Container volumes for April see record jump, increase 23%

Container volumes for April stood at 9.3 million tonne, up 23% from 2009 level of 7.6 milliom tonne, and highest in the last four years. According to analysts, an uptick in import and export activities has led to an increase in container volumes at major Indian ports. This also indicates that the trajectory of container volumes is directionally positive for ports and logistic players like Concor and Gateway Distriparks, among others.

The increase in container traffic is mainly led by traffic growth at the Chennai terminal, which grew by over 50%, and at JNPT where the container traffic grew by 16%. This, however, on a sequential basis fell marginally by 3%.

?Historically, container volumes on a sequential month during April over March show a decline as companies rush their orders in March on account of closing financial year. This year is an exception on account of pick up in trade volumes and companies preferring to ship their goods in containers,? said Jignesh Dhabalia, an analyst with India Capital Markets.

In terms of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), major Indian ports recorded 21% increase in April. Total TEUs traded stood at 6.30 lakh units as against 5.19 lakh units last year.

The total traffic volume at India?s major ports is up 2.7% on a year-on-year basis in April 2010. This is the fourth consecutive yearly gain since January this year. The increase in port traffic can be attributed to a 12.8% increase in iron ore trade that stood at 97.4 lakh tonne in April. According to the latest data compiled by the Indian Ports Association (IPA), port traffic for April 2010 declined 10% sequentially to 46.6 million tonne and up 3% on a yearly basis, which is a historical trend.

?This decline in port traffic is driven by substantially weaker petroleum and oil (POL) volumes, down 13% from March, the highest decline on sequential months in last one year,? added Dhabalia.

The fall in POL volumes was steeper at Kandla, down 18% over March, which contributes 27% of the total POL volumes. Other major ports like Chennai, Cochin, New Mangalore and Vishakhapatnam (Vizag) noted decline in their POL volumes trend over March.

Commodities like fertiliser, coal and other cargo de-grew in their total traded volumes.

Ports of New Mangalore, Ennore, Vizag, Paradip and Kolkata saw a decline in their total port traffic for the month. Cochin, JNPT, Mumbai and Kandla reported increase in their port traffic.