Cargo traffic at 12 major ports up 3.2 per cent to 274 MT in April-Aug

New Delhi: The country's 12 major ports saw cargo traffic go up by 3.26 per cent to 273.96 million tonnes (MT) in April-August of the ongoing fiscal, according to data from ports' body IPA.

The ports, under the administrative control of the Centre, handled 265.30 MT cargo in the same period last fiscal. Increased demand from sectors like iron ore, petroleum oil and lubricants (POL) and containers led to higher movement of cargo during the last five months, according to the Indian Ports Association (IPA).

Iron ore traffic volumes moved up 29.32 per cent to 18.73 MT during April-August this fiscal as against 14.48 MT in the same period a year ago, while those of POL rose 8.36 per cent to 93.14 MT.

Container traffic rose 6.44 per cent. Volume of sea-borne cargo is essentially in the nature of derived demand and mainly shaped by levels and changes in both global and domestic activity.

India has 12 major ports, namely Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, V O Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia), which handle approximately 61 per cent of the country's total cargo traffic.