The port has registered throughput of 17.23 MMT (million metric tonne) in the first half of FY2024 (April to September) — a 1.34% increase in growth compared to the first half of FY2023.
While the Petroleum Oil and Lubricants (POL) throughput of the port registered a growth of 1.39% compared to the same period in FY2023 (from 10.46 MMT to 10.61 MMT), the container throughput registered a growth of 3.15% (from 3.47 lakh TEUs to 3.58 lakh TEUs).
According to the port authority, implementation of market targeted strategies augmented the cargo handling capacity. The aggressive pricing strategy also helped the port achieve goals in transshipment container traffic at ICTT, Vallarpadam. CPA will have a new executive soon as the five-year tenure of chairperson M Beena ended last week.
Despite many challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic, the last five year period is marked with significant improvement in development and financial standing of the port.
The business volumes grew by 21%, from 29.14 MMT of cargo handled in FY2018 to 35.26 MMT in FY2023. It also shows significant improvement in the port’s operational performance during this period. “The pre-berthing detention of vessels reduced by 52.22%, from 12.67 hours in FY2019 to 6.04 hours in FY2023. Turnaround time reduced by 5.11%, from 35.21 hours to 33.41 hours. Average stay at berth came down to 1.16 days as against 1.23 days with a marked increase of 7.35% in output per ship-berth-day,” data says.
Recently, marking a growth in international connectivity after the Covid days, CPT had registered a jump in the Port Liner Shipping Connectivity index prepared by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. iT showed a growth of 21.8% in the second quarter this year compared to the first quarter. The connectivity index has increased from 18.8 in the first quarter to 22.29 in the second quarter.
