Cargo Breaking News
According to Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Logistics activity improved in Dec 2022, with daily average e-way bill generations rising 1% MoM. The fleet utilization level stood at 80-85% during the month. Daily average FASTag toll collections jumped 3% MoM in Dec’22. EXIM container volumes handled by Indian Railways increased 6% YoY, with the market share of Indian Railways in EXIM containers rising to 36% as of Dec’22 from 33% in Dec’21. Overall, the container volumes handled at ports decreased 3% YoY. Volumes handled at major ports rose 10% YoY to 69.5mmt. Iron Ore/Fertilizer/Coal/ POL reported growth of 35%/11%/39%/5% YoY in Dec’22. Diesel consumption improved to 8.3m tonnes in Dec’22.
Daily average e-way bill generations up 1% MoM; daily average toll collections up 3% MoM in Dec’22
Daily average e-way bill generation rose 1% MoM and clocked 2.7m/day in Dec’22. After robust logistics activity in Nov’22, the demand for logistics continues to improve in Dec’22, driven the easing in commodity prices and inflation in the last few months. E-way bill generations jumped 17% YoY in Dec’22, with intra-state bill generations increasing 23% YoY and inter-state rising 9% YoY. The daily average FASTag toll collection improved 3% MoM to INR1.59b/day.
Rail EXIM container volumes increase 6% YoY in Dec’22; Rail gains market share in container traffic
While overall container volumes handled at ports decreased 3% YoY, EXIM container volumes handled by Indian Railways increased 6% YoY in Dec’22. The Railways’ market share in EXIM containers rose to 36% in Dec’22 from 33% in Dec’21. Domestic container volumes handled by Railways improved 12% YoY.
Traffic handled at major ports up 10% YoY in Dec’22
Iron Ore/Fertilizer/Coal/POL reported growth of 35%/11%/39%/5% YoY in Dec’22, whereas the Container segment reported a decline of 3% YoY. Two major ports, Chennai/Deendayal, reported a 5%/2% YoY decline in traffic in Dec’22. Paradip/ Kolkata/New Mangalore clocked a growth of 30%/20%/ 16% YoY. Container cargo decreased 6% YoY in Dec’22 on a TEU basis.
Volume trends across major ports over FY17-22 (m tonnes)
Elevated retail fuel prices, coupled with robust economic activity, pushed freight rates marginally higher in Dec’22 on the MoM basis. The freight rates are likely to remain firm with demand improvement amid improving consumer sentiment due to declining commodity prices and an easing in inflation. The margins for most players are likely to improve slightly. VRL Logistics remains MOFSL’s top pick in the Indian Logistics space.
