Facing the heat of the Red Sea crisis, India’s container segment registered a slowdown in the financial year (FY) 2024. Witnessing a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 7.5 per cent in FY24, the country’s cargo volumes experienced a dip as compared to the 8.3 per cent YoY growth in FY23. Icra in a report stated that the container and coal volumes grew by 11 per cent and 8.7 per cent, respectively, according to Icra.
Despite the container segment displaying a slowdown due to the Red Sea crisis, the container volumes grew by posting a YoY growth of 11 per cent. Even though the containerisation of cargo is showing an upward growth trajectory, the volumes are still likely to remain susceptible due to geopolitical tensions and the availability of containers, Icra mentioned in its report.
Due to rising power demand, the coal volumes remained on the higher side by witnessing a YoY growth of 8.7 per cent in FY24. With surging power demand in FY25 on the cards, the demand for coal is likely to grow. In addition to this, the rising coastal movement will also support the coal volume handled at ports.
With new projects on the way to realise the growth envisioned in Maritime Vision 2030, large capex has been planned to improve port capacity and infra. However, as per Icra, aggressive capacity additions may lead to a mismatch in supply-demand, further leading to increased competition and pricing pressures for ports in some clusters.
However, the cargo volumes at ports are expected to grow despite a slowdown in FY24. As per the projections, the segment is likely to secure growth of six to eight per cent in FY25 contributed by healthy growth in the coal and container segments.
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