India’s major ports saw a near 6 per cent y-o-y increase in traffic for the April-June FY26 period at 220 million tonnes (MT). This was driven primarily by increased container handling, which rose 11 per cent y-o-y to 51.4 million tonnes, and raw fertiliser imports that went up 19 per cent to 2.6 million tonnes.
Traffic in Q1FY25 was around 208.5 MT. In India, major ports are the ones owned, managed, and regulated by the Centre under the Major Port Authorities Act, 2021. They are governed by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
There are 12 major ports in India that include the Kolkata port – covering Haldia and Kolkata dock systems; Paradip in Odisha; Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh; Kamarajar, Tuticorin and Chennai in Tamil Nadu; New Mangalore in Karnataka; Cochin in Kerala; Mormugao in Goa; Deendayal in Gujarat and JNPT and Mumbai ports in Maharashtra.
Highest traffic
In volume terms, Paradip witnessed the highest traffic at 40 MT in Q1FY26, up nearly 5 per cent y-o-y, while Deendayal port had the second highest traffic volumes at nearly 38 MT, up nearly 5 per cent.
Kolkata port witnessed the highest y-o-y increase in traffic at 21 per cent to 17.2 MT, followed by Chennai port, where the 16 per cent y-o-y increase came on the back of 15 MT e traffic movement.
Visakhapatnam port saw a near 2 per cent decline to 21.6 MT inQ1FY26, against 22 MT in the year-ago period. Traffic at the New Mangalore port remained flat y-o-y at 10.7 MT.
Barring Visakhapatnam port, in nine other major ports saw an increase in container traffic, data from Indian Ports Association show.
JNPT remained the largest container handling port at 22 MT, or 43 per cent of the total tonnage handled by the major ports. Container handling in Q1FY26 increased 10 per cent y-o-y, compared to 20 MT in the comparative period last year. The port handled 16 per cent more TEUs (twenty equivalent units) at 1950 in the April-June period, against 1688 TEUs in the year-ago-period.
Of the 3,852 TEUs handled by the major ports, nearly 55 per cent was through JNPT. Kolkata dock system saw a significant increase, up by 21 per cent y-o-y to 4.2 MT, while TEU handled increased nearly 30 per cent to 234. Comparative numbers for the same period last year were 2.8 MT of cargo and 182 TEUs.
Drewry, in its July 17 report, said the World Container Index (WCI) fell 2.6 per cent. This ongoing downturn follows an earlier period of volatility triggered by higher US tariffs. The market reaction to the tariffs lagged by one month, with rates beginning to climb in May and surging through the first week of June. However, this trend has since reversed, indicating that the tariff’s initial market impact was not sustained.
The trans-pacific spot rates fell with Shanghai–Los Angeles down 4 per cent ($2,817/feu) and those on Shanghai-New York down 6 per cent ($4,539/feu). In shipping parlance, FEU is forty equivalent units.
Commodities Handled
Petroleum, oil and lubricant (POL) shipments increased nearly 8 per cent to 65.5 MT, while iron ore shipments remained flat y-o-y at 13.7 MT levels.
Coal shipments, too, saw an increase. Coking coal imports at 16 MT in Q1FY26 was up 2 per cent y-o-y, against 18.8 MT in the year-ago period. Thermal coal shipments were up 3 per cent during this period under review to 35 MT.
Fertliser and other liquid shipments declined 12 per cent and one per cent respectively, at 1.5 MT and 8 MT.
