Cartelization: Airlines seek more time from CCI

CHENNAI: Cargo traffic at major ports rose 7% to 49.8 million tonnes (mt) in April , the highest since February 2010. The cargo volumes were healthy despite a 26% (year-on-year ) drop in iron ore cargo volumes.

The traffic was driven by strong growth in petroleum , oil and lubes (POL) cargo, which was up 15% yoy, and container volumes which were up 5%. Solid cargo reported a 2.5% yearover-year growth.

POL, witnessed a 15% rise in volumes in April, rising to 15.5 mt. Container volumes grew by around 5% to 9.9 mt, coal volumes by 47% to 7.6 mt, and fertilizer volumes grew by 39% year-over-year to 1.3 mt.

Container cargo volumes at JNPT, the biggest port in the country, grew by 1% year-over-year to 4.96 mt in April and all-India container traffic was up around 7%year-over-year at 9.9 mt. Container cargo in India was boosted Vishakhapatnam port, which saw a 51% year-over-year cargo volume growth at 0.7 mt, and Chennai port, which saw container volumes rise 22% to 0.7 mt.

In April, 11 ports posted positive traffic growth, of which Tuticorin and Haldia were up 29% and 21% respectively, data from Indian Ports Association said.