It has been a bumper year for container traffic at the Chennai port during 2010-11 thanks to the second private container terminal operated by the Singapore-based PSA International.

The port with its two private container terminals – DP World Chennai of the Dubai-based DP World and PSA Chennai – handled 1.52 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) in 2010-11 as compared with 1.26 million TEUs in the corresponding period, a 25 per cent growth over the previous year, according to the Indian Ports Authority data.

The Chennai port reported the highest growth rate among the top three container ports of JNPT, Chennai and Tuticorin during fiscal 2010-11 over the previous year.

The annual growth for container volumes handled by the Chennai port during the last five years till 2009-10 was 13-14 per cent while it increased to 25 per cent during 2010-11.

This is primarily due to capacity addition with the second terminal commencing operations coupled with new services starting to call the Chennai port, said a source.

Coastal shipping

While the exact volume handled by the second container terminal during 2010-11 is unavailable, it handled over 3 lakh TEUs during the calendar year 2010 – up from 26,000 TEUs handled in the three months of operations since start up in 2009, according to the company's 2010 annual report.

In a boost to coastal shipping, and to consolidate and tranship containers arriving on Maersk Line's ICON service bound for Vizag and Haldia, the Relay Shipping Agency (agents for OEL) recently commenced a coastal service on a 10-day frequency from DP World Chennai.

The first call was made by OEL Victory on April 2 loading 164 Maersk units for discharge at Vizag (174 TEUs) and at Kolkata (30 TEUs).

This service will help the trade in East Coast of India to directly connect their shipments to North Europe through the ICON service, according to the terminal operator.

India growth

The growth in container traffic in India ports is corroborated by improved profitability for the global container liners who had increased freight rates across several routes during the year. Looking ahead, while prospects appear favourable due to the under penetrated

Exim container trade in India, key imponderable in the near term will be the level of crude oil prices, which has the potential to dampen demand across several industries if prices surge due to any geo-political reasons, said Mr K Ravichandran, Senior Vice-President, Co-Head Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA Ltd.

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