Iron ore & coal lift Essar Ports’ cargo handling by 11% in Q3 FY18

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Mumbai, 6 February 2018: Essar Ports Limited (EPL), a leading private port terminal operator in India, today reported an 11% increase in overall cargo handling at 9.16 million tonnes (MT) across its Hazira, Vishakapatnam, Salaya and Paradip port terminals for the quarter ended December 31st, 2017, up from 8.26 MT a year ago, led by substantial growth in iron ore, coal, limestone and finished steel transportation with third party accounting for 16% share in the overall cargo.

Y-on-Y

YTD (9-month ending 31 Dec)

Q3 FY17
(mn tonnes)

Q3 FY18
(mn tonnes)

Growth

YTD FY 17
(mn tonnes)

YTD FY 18
(mn tonnes)

Growth

8.26

9.16

11%

22.87

26.50

16%

For the nine months ended December 31st, 2017, the company registered a 16% growth overall cargo at 26.5 MT versus the same period last year while third party cargo handling rose by an impressive 36% to 4.26 MT in the same period last year.

Mr. Rajiv Agarwal, CEO-EPL, said: “We expect to continually improve our operational performance with faster turnaround times at our terminals through our sustained investment in state-of-the-art technology. The strategic location, deep drafts and superior cargo handling capabilities of these facilities will help Essar Ports further the national goal of port-led development and overall reduction in logistics cost.”

The company has recently commissioned a 20 MT bulk terminal in Salaya, Gujarat and will soon complete expansion of Vizag Terminal, taking its annual handling capacity to 24 MT, thus taking the cumulative cargo handling capacity to 90 MT by end of FY18.

The Salaya terminal has been designed to berth Capesize vessels with a vessel turnaround time of less than two days, thus offering a competitive advantage to the local industry.

The Essar Vizag Terminal Limited (EVTL) recently commissioned an 8,000 TPH (tonnes per hour) Ship Loader, which has increased its cargo handling rate from 70,000 TPD (tonnes per day) to 120,000 TPD, and is expected to significantly increase revenues. The increased cargo handling will also translate to shorter turnaround times and competitive freight costs for exporters on the east coast. Following the commissioning of the expansion project, the facility will also be able to berth vessels up to 200,000 DWT, with a depth of 18 metres, on the outer harbour of Vizag Port.