Mangaluru :

Proactive measures initiated by the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) in the recent years have helped attract more coffee cargo from other ports in the recent years.

Suresh P Shirwadkar, Chairman in-charge of the NMPT, told BusinessLine that the port handled 2.41 lakh tonnes (lt) of coffee cargo during 2017-18 as against 2.36 lt in 2016-17. The port shipped out 1.94 lt in 2015-16 and 1.59 lt in 2014-15.

A senior port official said that more than 90 per cent of coffee cargo are being exported from the NMPT now. Had there been no lull in the international market, the coffee exports from NMPT would have gone up by another 10,000 tonnes, he said.

Stating that a majority of coffee is located in the hinterland areas such as Kodagu, Chikmagaluru and Hassan districts of Karnataka, he said all of them are within 180 km distance from NMPT. The cargo can reach Mangaluru within in four-and-a-half hours from the hinterland. There is no inter-State transfer of the cargo. All these factors have helped exporters to save time and money, he said.

Exporters now have the option of three ports for transhipment of cargo. If the transhipment is delayed for Colombo, the cargo can be taken to Mundra port. With this, transit time comes down.

Ramesh Rajah, Coffee Exporters Association, says New Mangalore port has emerged as preferred choice for exporters due to improved infrastructure including a quick customs clearance and increase in number of sailings. As rising fuel prices add to the exporters’ costs, proximity to Mangalore has worked out to their advantage.

To a query on the reduction in the cost when compared to Kochi, the NMPT official said the cost is less by around IRs. 6,000 a container compared to the neighbouring ports.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home / by AJ Vinayak / Mangaluru – April 04th, 2018