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Cochin port cargo movement on rise
K A Martin
KOCHI, January 13: Cargo movement through Kochi port has improved during the first three quarters of the current fiscal compared to the previous year. According to sources in the Cochin Port Trust (CoPT), the port handled 87,85,489 tonnes of cargo between April and December this year. During the same period last year, the port had handled 86,25,505 tonnes. Movement of containers too have registered a marginal rise in the first three quarters of this fiscal. CoPT handled 81,585 TEUs between April and December this year. During the same period last year, the port had handled a little over 75,000 TEUs of cargo. According to sources, the port is right on target in both bulk and container handling for the current fiscal.During December this year, the port handled 1,96,565 tonnes of cargo. In the same month last year, the port had handled 2,91,633 tonnes. There was a considerable drop in cargo handling during December this year when the port had handled 2,28,032 tonnes of cargo. Container movements too recorded
a drop during December compared to the previous month. In December, the port handled 9,628 TEUs compared to the 11,887 TEUs in November. CoPT sources expressed optimism that during the remaining three months of the current fiscal, the port will be able to meet the container handling target of 1.26 lakh TEUs. Last year, the port handled 1.16 lakh TEUs. By the end of 1988, the port was expected to handle about 1.4 lakh TEUs of containerised cargo, sources added. Among bulk cargo, export and import of POL products and fertiliser raw materials continued to dominate the scene. In December, 7,78,272 tonnes of POL products was imported through Kochi port. At the same time, 1,47,506 tonnes of POL products was exported through the port. Fertiliser raw materials of 78,555 tonnes was imported through the port during the last month. Export of marine products during December did not improve drastically from the previous month. In December, 7,290 tonnes of marine food products was shipped from Kochi compared to 7,280
tonnes during November. In fact, export of marine products fell drastically between April and December this year compared to the same period last year. Between April and December last year, 79,612 tonnes of marine food products was shipped from Kochi. But this year, the quantity fell to 65,125 tonnes. Other major items to pass through Kochi were cashew kernels, coir products, wood and timber, spices, cement and coal. Between April and December this year, 738 vessels called at Kochi. This is a significant improvement from last year's 687 vessels for the same period. The number of oil tankers to call at Kochi more or less remained at the same level this year compared to the previous year. Movement of containers from inland container depots at Coimbatore and Bangalore too have shown improvement.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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