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Santanu Sanyal

Kolkata , Nov. 19

WITH barely four-and-half-months to go before the expiry of the current financial year, Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) may find it hard to achieve the targeted throughput of 49 million tonnes (mt) set for the year. Last year, the port handled a total traffic of 46 mt.

Till November 17, the port handled an additional eight lakh tonnes, 29.3 mt as compared to 28.5 mt in the same period of the previous year, out of the additional three mt targeted for the whole of the year. This means the port will be required to handle an additional 2.2 mt in the remaining part of the year to achieve the target.

This would prove to be a big job, more so when there has been a drop in thermal coal traffic by three lakh tonnes so far in the current year compared to the same period last year, and the throughputs of crude and petroleum products taken together have virtually stagnated.

VPT, therefore, is pinning hope on iron ore (exports) and coking coal (imports). The throughputs of iron ore and pellets so far have been 6.36 mt (5.59 mt) and coking coal 3.98 mt (3.67 mt). The new players on the iron ore export front are believed to have assured the port authorities that they will try to push as much shipments as possible. With the steel scenario looking up, the export of pellets by the Essar Group's Hi-Grade too might jump, it is felt.

Last year, the port handled 10.3 million tonnes of exports of ore and pellets. The Shipping Ministry, it might be noted, insisted on a 10 per cent growth in traffic for VPT in the current year over the previous year.

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