Cargo handled by Indian ports declined for the second straight month in June as consumption slowed and global trade tensions persisted.
Ports across the country handled 575.5 lakh tonnes of cargo in June, a decline of 0.4 percent over the last year, according to data available on the website of Indian Ports Association.
The slowdown was witnessed across categories such as liquid cargo, coal, container and other miscellaneous cargo. That was offset by the growth in cargo volumes of iron ore and fertilisers.
- Volumes of liquid cargo—oil and gas related products—rose 1.1 percent year-on-year, the lowest in six months.
- Coal volumes fell for the second month in a row, albeit at a slower rate of 3 percent, to 127 lakh tonnes.
- Container volumes, accounting for nearly 21 percent of the overall volumes, grew 0.6 percent over last year—its slowest pace in 15 months.
- Fertiliser volumes grew as much as 16 percent over last year to 15 lakh tonnes—the highest in five months.
- Iron ore volumes rose more than 20 percent for the second consecutive month.
The container volume growth needs to be better in the second half of financial year 2019-20 to help support volumes for its ‘buy-rated' stocks like Adani Port and Special Economic Zones Ltd. and Container Corporation of India Ltd., according to Goldman Sachs.
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