JNPA clears congestion after export cargo surge; traffic returns to normal

Mumbai/New Delhi: Traffic at Jawaharlal Nehru Port has returned to normal after a surge in export cargo triggered congestion, truck queues and container delays last week, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) said on Tuesday.

The congestion followed the bunching of container vessels, with export cargo for more than 15 vessels reaching terminal gates around the same time. Traffic began normalising on Sunday morning, and movement is now smooth across all terminal gates, JNPA said.

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The port authority and terminal operators coordinated with Container Freight Stations (CFSs), local traffic authorities and other stakeholders to ease the bottlenecks through additional deployment, enhanced gate automation and faster import evacuation.

Strong export-import demand pushed daily quay-side handling to 35,307 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) on October 4 and 32,972 TEUs on October 5, significantly above the port’s standard daily average. Around 16–17 container vessels were berthed and handled simultaneously during peak weekend operations.

Terminal gate movements reached 21,796 TEUs involving 18,391 trucks on October 2 and 20,684 TEUs involving 17,535 trucks on October 3.

Volumes subsequently eased to 19,294 TEUs involving 16,332 trucks on October 4 and 16,972 TEUs involving 15,045 trucks on October 5. Average truck turnaround time across the port fell to 1.47 hours, JNPA said.

Yard inventory declined from 1,20,173 TEUs on October 2 to 94,519 TEUs by October 6, reducing occupancy from 66.89 percent to 52.61 percent.

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Pending CFS-bound import cargo also fell from 22,622 TEUs on October 4 to 15,770 TEUs by the morning of October 6. Faster evacuation helped clear approach lanes and sustain traffic flow, the authority said.

JNPA, which operates five container terminals, said container throughput continues to grow across its facility.

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