Calcutta: A strong performance by Haldia-based petrochemical industries, coupled with good tidings in the steel sector and a growth in container traffic helped the Calcutta Port Trust to log the second highest growth among major ports in India during the first six months of 2017-18.

The CPT recorded an 11.95 per cent rise in cargo traffic between April and September compared with just 3.24 per cent by the 12 state-owned large ports taken together. Traffic at the CPT trails that of only the Cochin port.

The stellar performance was driven mainly by Haldia Dock Complex where the growth was 17.74 per cent, eclipsing Calcutta Dock System, where the traffic volume was almost flat.

At Haldia, petroleum cargo went up 29 per cent to 4.13 million tonnes (mt) from 3.2 mt a year ago, while iron ore movement rose three times to 0.79 mt from 0.19 mt a year ago.

Port officials said the import of naphtha by Haldia Petrochemicals, raw materials such as paraxylene by Materials Chemicals and Performance Intermediaries (formerly MCC PTA) and auto fuels by RIL aided the growth.

Simultaneously, the coastal movement of iron ore by JSW Group to Maharashtra to feed their Dolvi plant backed the movement of iron ore from HDC.

The Haldia dock also scored on account of container traffic movement where the tonnage went up to 1.25 mt from 0.718 mt.

At the Calcutta dock, the container movement went down to 4.88 mt from 5.1 mt. In terms of containers, Haldia handled 70,000 boxes, up from 49,000 boxes in the first six months. In contrast, there was a decline from 3,33,000 boxes to 3,18,000 boxes at Calcutta, which had witnessed steady increase in container movement in the last decade.

Port officials said several new initiatives have been taken up by the CPT to create additional capacities in the near- and medium-term. A floating terminal and two floating cranes outside the lock gate may bring additional bulk cargo by barging operation from January. Ships can unload cargo directly onto barges for upward movement along the Hooghly without waiting for their turn to enter the lock gate.