Newest Chennai CT stands to edge out rival ports as growth returns /18.12.2009

THE battle for market share among southern Indian ports has been fierce with each vying for cargo volumes in what is a smaller market than in northern Indian ports.

But the real question is, how well equipped are southern ports to cope with volume growth, and can they expect enough infrastructure and development investment to handle the coming increases in demand going forward?

This is the question we shall focus on as we continue our study on India’s port infrastructure.

Lately, we have looked at various regions throughout India to see which ports are receiving the investments they need to prepare them for the future.

In recent years there has been much talk of a lack of investment in port infrastructure. In the series of articles published on India ports, we have been taking a closer look at the situation on the ground to see whether it is lack of investment or a case of uneven distribution of development.

For today’s study, The Container Shipping Manager will examine four southern Indian ports: Cochin, Chennai, Tuticorin and Visakhapatnam.

While the northern Indian port scene is a contest between Singapore’s PSA, Dubai’s DP World and Demark’s APM Terminals, competition in southern India is limited to PSA and DP World.

All four ports have overlapping hinterlands, so most of the time they are often competing for the same cargo. PSA manages Tuticorin while DP World runs Visakhapatnam and Cochin.

Up until June of this year, Chennai had only one terminal CCTL, which was also managed by DP World. PSA now controls Chennai’s second newly constructed terminal CITPL.

From April to November throughput results for all four ports this year and for 2008 shows Chennai has a big lead though it has lost business vis-à-vis 2008 results – as hasTuticorin and most everyone else.

csm.hksg.com