In the first half of the current fiscal (April to September 2013-14), Paradip Port Trust (PPT) posted a 33.13 per cent growth in traffic throughput at 34.12 million tonnes (mt), up from 25.83 mt in the corresponding period of last fiscal. Compared to the pro-rata target set for the period, the growth was 7.52 per cent. The port thus succeeded in retaining second position among all major ports in terms of the actual volume handled as well as the rate of growth in throughput, according to PPT sources.

Percentagewise, iron ore exports posted the highest growth at 144.42 per cent, though the actual volume was not much, 2.72 mt during the period under review as compared to 1.11 mt in the same period of last fiscal.

Volumewise, it was thermal coal, 12.8 mt (8.27 mt) or a growth of 46.82 per cent. The growth would have been much higher but for the suspension of coal imports by NTPC since the middle of August. The port on an average loaded three rakes of imported coal a day on the NTPC account, partly to meet the requirement of its Kaniha plant (Odisha) and partly for its plants located at Farakka (West Bengal) and Kahalgaon (Bihar).    

During the period under review, the POL throughput jumped 16.21 per cent to 9.42 mt (8.10 mt), coking coal 18.11 per cent to 3.21 mt (2.72 mt) and other cargo 39.77 per cent to 4.21 mt (3.01 mt).

Rail-borne traffic jumped 45 per cent, the sources added.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, the PPT Chairman S. S. Mishra held a customers’ meet at Kalinganagar, the hub of steel producing units in Odisha, explaining the facilities being offered by the port and urging them to make the most use of those facilities.

santanu.sanyal @thehindu.co.in

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