Major Indian ports recorded a sharp fall in iron ore traffic during the first two months of the current fiscal year (April-May 2018) to 7.704 million mt, down 22.7 percent over traffic handled during the corresponding months of the previous fiscal year, according to latest data released by the Indian Ports Association (IPA).
The IPA data showed that India's two largest iron ore handling ports, Paradip and Vishakhapatnam, both on the eastern coast, suffered the sharpest fall in traffic.
Paradip Port in Odisha handled 1.571 million mt of iron ore (including pellets) traffic during the April-May period this year compared to 1.699 million mt during the corresponding two months of the previous fiscal year. Vishakhapatnam Port, handled total iron ore traffic of 1.70 million mt in the April-May period of the current year, down from 2.07 million mt in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Coking coal freight handled by all Indian major ports during the April-May period in 2018 was recorded at 8.947 million mt, down three percent year on year, the IPA data showed.