Cargo traffic at major ports up 3.2% in October 2017

The cargo traffic at India's major ports grew by 3.2 per cent year-on-year, in October 2017. The cargo traffic had declined 0.3 per cent, two month's back in August, however, it grew by 2.5 per cent in the following month.
 
Major ports in the country handled 56.4 million tonnes of cargo traffic in October 2017, compared to 54.7 million tonnes in October 2016. On a cumulative basis, 382,863 million tonnes of cargo traffic was handled during April-Oct 2017, compared to 370,812 million tonnes between April-Oct 2016, registering a growth of 3.3 per cent.

Import cargo traffic and export cargo traffic rose by 2.4 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively, during the month. The transshipment cargo traffic also increased. It grew by 5.5 per cent.

Major commodities, which registered higher cargo traffic during the month, include petroleum, oil & lubricants (5.2 per cent), coal (5.6 per cent) and container cargo (4.4 per cent). On the contrary, cargo traffic of iron ore and other goods declined by nine per cent and 6.9 per cent, respectively.