Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port sees rise in net profit

Kolkata: April 18: Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP), Kolkata, erstwhile the Kolkata Port Trust, has recorded a 15.38% jump in it's net profit from business amid a drop in cargo handling.

SMP chairman Vinit Kumar on Monday informed that the net profit of the port grew to ₹120 crores in 2021-22 financial year (FY), rising from ₹104 crores in the previous FY. He added that the operating income stood at ₹2,627 crores in the last FY compared to ₹2,624 crores in the previous FY.

Mr Kumar also announced that the SMP is going to undertake a major project at berth no 6 and 7 of the Kolkata Dock System which is being rebuilt at ₹100 crores. He said, "The tender has been opened. It is under consideration. Within a month the project will be awarded. A tender will be floated this year for another project of ₹340 crores at berth no 5 at Haldia with full mechanization."

The SMP, Kolkata however witnessed a drop in cargo throughput. It handled 58.175 million tonnes (MT) of cargo during the 2021-22 FY, vis-a-vis 61.368 MT during 2020-21, registering a decrease of 5.20% primarily due to steady increase in price of coal and fertilisers as well as freight rates of the vessel thus making import less attractive for the importers.

In addition to this, container shipping rates continued to be highly volatile. At the Haldia Dock Complex under the SMP, the drop in cargo handling was 5.7% as it handled 42.877 MT of cargo in the 2021-2022 FY, vis-a-vis 45.468 MT during the 2020-21 FY.

On the other hand at the Kolkata Dock Complex of the SMP, the decline was 3.8% as it handled 15.30 MT of cargo in the 2021-22 FY compared to 15.9 MT of cargo in the 2020-2021 FY.