The ports in Kolkata and Haldia under the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) are gearing up to stay in competition with the Dhamra Port, off the coasts of Orissa, which has started operation of its container terminal from the beginning of this month posing a threat of shifting container cargo from the twin ports under KoPT. While KoPT’s Haldia arm is betting high on the transloading facility it has installed for handling bulk cargo, the port has firmed up plans to invest Rs 1,650 crore over a period of three years to construct additional berths outside the lock gates.

The berths outside the lock gates will reduce waiting time for the ships thus saving on the demurrage charges the shippers have to bear. Since Haldia is a river port, ships have to wait for two – two and half days for tidal flow to leave the port although unloading is completed within a day and a half. Berths outside the port will reduce this compulsory waiting, MT Krishna Babu, chairman of both KoPT and Visakhapatnam Port Trust told Fe.

While Kolkata witnessed a 9.8% and Haldia 58.76% year- on- year increase in container handling, overall cargo handling increased only 1.93% y-o-y since handling of POL products has reduced by 13.67% and coking coal by 6.5% in Haldia. Haldia handled a total of 32.85 mt in FY 17 against 32.22 mt in FY 16. In Kolkata there has been a reduction of cargo by 5.35% y-o-y and the reduction has been in bulk cargo with handling of vegetable oil down by 25%, other liquids down by 14%, pulses and others down by 13%. Coking coal to some extend has diverted to Dhamra and Paradip, Babu, said.

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He said in such a situation the KoPT cannot afford to lose container or any other cargo and therefore it has to give leverage to its inherent strength of large hinterland and faster railway evacuation, for which Haldia still remain attractive to a number of shippers. For 25,000 tonne vessels Haldia is still cheaper, Babu said adding that rail rake availability is very good in Haldia compared to Dhamra or Paradip.

While Haldia opted for a transloading facility to be able to handle big panamax vessels with the help of daughter vessels, handling charges were crossing Rs 1000 per tonne. Whereas the national average, say for handling coking coal, works out to an average of Rs 300 per tonne. In Haldia without transloading the cost works out be Rs 350 – 400 per tonne since handlers like Ripley levy additional charges of Rs 60-70 per tonne on shippers.

However, with the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) and KoPT revising rates handling with the help of the transloader has been made possible at Rs 700 per tonne. This makes KoPT competitive with the Dhamra port because the rail freight from Haldia to Kharagpur offsets the carrying cost from Dhamra to Kharagpur, Babu said.

KoPT has targeted SAIL and the Tatas as customers of its transloader as both the companies can effectively utilize its 6 million tonne capacity. “This month we are expecting SAIL to use the facility as SAIL alone can give 2 million tones without getting economically hurt,” Babu said.

Saraogi Udyog brought a 50,000 tonne panamax vessel this month and used two daughter vessels for lighterage operations.

However, of its investment plan of Rs 1,650 crore for infrastructure augmentation, the Port itself will invest Rs 172 crore for constructing a liquid berth at Haldia outside the lockgate. “The rest will come from private investors, who will put up facilities and introduce further mechanization for cargo handling,” Babu said. Haldia is putting up a bulk jetty, a liquid jetty and a barge jettry outside its lock gate besides its existing 14 berths inside the lock gate. “The investment propositions from private investors show that Haldia still remains attractive to exporters and importers because of its faster evacuation facility and large hinterland.