Shipments at Centre-run ports drop 20% amid pandemic

NEW DELHI: The Covid pandemic has impacted the traffic handled at 12 major ports under the central government. These ports put together saw nearly 20% decline in the handling of shipments between April and June this year as compared to the same period last year as domestic demand fell.
According to the quarterly data uploaded by Indian Port Association, ports handled 141.9 million tonnes (MTs) of shipments till June 30, while last year’s figure was 176.7 MTs. Sources said the fall could be due to weak domestic demand for steel and clearance of stockpiles by miners in Goa. The maximum fall was recorded in thermal coal cargo, which declined by 34.7%. The other category of cargo that saw sharp fall was container cargo, by 30.1%.
Handling of only two types of cargo saw increase and these were raw fertiliser (28.6%) and iron ore including pellets by 18.8%. Only two major ports – Murmogoa and New Mangalore – saw increase in handling of cargo by nearly 29% and 4% respectively.