The sunny days are back in Sri Lanka as
business in 2021 was good with the Port of Colombo (PoC) handling its all-time
highest volume of 7.25 million TEUs in the calendar year, a YOY growth of
almost 6% over 2020. This increase was mainly on the back of a 5 per cent
growth in transshipment volumes, which represent 84 per cent of total
throughput, primarily to and from South India and Bangladesh and a 10 per cent growth
in domestic cargo, driven by a surge in imports. 59 per cent of transshipment
is coming from South Indian market, lower than previous year share of 70 per
cent due to increased direct callings at east coast ports of India. The year
2022 has yielded a mixed bag, with volumes growing steadily until April 2022
and thereafter beginning to taper slightly on the back of an easing in global
demand, according to Sri Lankan Media reports.
Disruption at the Colombo Port due to the
pandemic and economic crisis saw certain maritime traffic diverting to Indian
ports temporarily.
The International Container Transhipment
Terminal (ICTT) in Kochi, Kamarajar Port Limited and VOC Port had all reported
increase in container traffic in the past few months.
However, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority was
quick to bring the port operations back into sync. Ted Muttiah, Chief
Commercial Officer, Colombo Port said, “The Port of Colombo consists of 3
terminals... All the 3 terminals, like many in the region and globally did, at
the outset of the pandemic, had some disruptions, but the 3 terminals currently are working in close operational
collaboration and have now normalized the port operations in Colombo. ..
With a stable government in place the island
nation is busy flexing its maritime infrastructure to get ready for the future
cargo growth. “The government wants more public-private partnerships (PPP) to
take place enabling the private sector to invest in state sector and earn
benefits,” said Minister of Aviation and Shipping, Nimal Siripala de Silva.
We have to invest 75 million US dollars
towards Eastern Terminal (ECT) development. We have a road map on how to find
Dollars and ensure that the ECT becomes a reality. For the JCT, we are
investing another $400 million to expand the capacity and bring in automation.”
Sri Lanka’s container transshipment volumes
fell 4.5 per cent from a year ago to 4,83,070 TEUs in June 2022 (Total
containers handled in June fell 9.3% to 577,082 TEUs) as domestic imports also
fell, as the economy was contracted to stabilize a soft-peg which collapsed due
to earlier money printing. The Colombo Port saw volume increases of about 6% in
2021, while transshipment volumes grew by 4.2 per cent to 5.85 Million TEUs. In
early 2022, Colombo Port began phase two of its Eastern Terminal extension
which will allow it to handle the largest container vessels.