Data Alert
Traffic at major Indian ports rises 4.5% YoY in Apr-May
This story was originally published at 21:58 IST on 4 June 2026
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NEW DELHI – Freight traffic handled by major Indian ports during Apr-May rose 4.5% on year to 153.91 million tonnes, data released by the Indian Ports Association showed. The growth was contained mainly due to a fall in cargoes of crude oil and petroleum products, and raw fertiliser amid the war in West Asia.
Crude oil and petroleum products cargoes fell over 4% on year to 42.08 million tonnes during the months under review. The volume of liquids other than crude and petroleum products also declined over 1% on year to nearly 5.10 million tonnes.
India imports raw fertilisers from West Asia. With Strait of Hormuz – the key marine route – blocked, raw fertiliser cargo handled by major ports slumped over 25% on year to 1.31 million tonnes during Apr-May. This led to an 18% on-year growth in the volume of finished fertilisers imported in the first two months of 2026-27 (Apr-Mar) at 1.17 million tonnes.
The cargo volume of thermal coal rose 3.4% on year to 24.21 million tonnes and coking coal grew 5.7% on year to 11.72 million tonnes in the past two months. Miscellaneous traffic was up nearly 25% at 21.15 million tonnes. Meanwhile, the volume of iron ore pellets rose nearly 2% to 9.84 million tonnes.
Among ports, Paradip Port handled the highest traffic at 26.71 million tonnes, followed by Deendayal port of Kandla at 26.03 million tonnes, and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority at 19.17 million tonnes.
Following is the commodity-wise break-up of freight handled by the 12 major ports in April-May, in million tonnes:
| Apr-May (2026-27) | Apr-May (2025-26) | Year-on-year change (in %) | |
| Crude and petroleum products | 42.08 | 43.90 | -4.14 |
| Other liquids | 5.10 | 5.17 | -1.41 |
| Iron ore | 9.84 | 9.66 | 1.86 |
| Fertiliser finished | 1.17 | 0.99 | 18.02 |
| Fertiliser raw | 1.31 | 1.75 | -25.26 |
| Coal thermal | 24.21 | 23.42 | 3.39 |
| Coal coking | 11.72 | 11.09 | 5.67 |
| Container (tonnage) | 37.35 | 34.36 | 8.72 |
| Other cargo | 21.15 | 16.92 | 24.98 |
| Total | 153.91 | 147.24 | 4.53 |
End
Reported by Shweta
Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj
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