Coal import and iron ore export help Dhamra port

01 November 2016

Adani Group owned Dhamra port, a deep draught port off the coast of north Odisha, has notched up a cargo volume of 10.55 million tonne (mt) in this financial year by the end of September. This marks a growth of 50 per cent in traffic over the comparable period of 2015-16.

The stellar cargo performance is on the back of surging imports of coking coal and limestone. On the export traffic, the turnaround in iron ore cargo bolstered volumes for the port.

Of the total cargo throughput of 10.55 mt, imports had the major share at 7.4 mt. The port benefited from an 18 per cent rise in coking coal shipments which increased from 3.86 mt to 4,55 mt in the period. Limestone imports, too, expanded 23 per cent from 0.45 mt to 0.55 mt in this period. But, iron ore imports through the Dhamra port was nil so far compared with 0.1 mt in the year-ago period. Also, steam coal imports were nearly flat at 2.3 mt, a pointer to the country’s improved availability of domestic coal, cutting dependence on imports. In the corresponding period of 2015-16, overall imports by the port were lesser at 6.58 mt.

The turnaround for the port, though, came from its iron ore traffic. From a zero level in last fiscal, total iron ore cargo (including pellets) stood at nearly 2.8 mt in the April-September period. Total export traffic zoomed from 0.41 mt to 3.13 mt.

In terms of cargo volume growth (by the end of September), Dhamra port bettered all the major ports except Mormugao whose traffic swelled 61 per cent, led by iron ore exports. Dhamra is also comfortably poised to overshoot its own performance of last financial year where it had handled 15 mt cargo, achieving 60 per cent of its rated capacity of 25 mt per year.

As the port has stepped in its second phase expansion which will expand capacity to 100 mt, the cargo growth is only expected to look up with diversification into liquid cargo.

Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) which handles operations of Dhamra port, recorded 46 per cent jump in its net income to Rs 1297 crore. Its consolidated operating income in the period was also up 14 per cent to reach Rs 4010 crore.

APSEZ attributed the healthy numbers to growth in cargo volumes, operational efficiency and change in mix of bulk cargo beyond coal.

Source – BS