Chennai, March 28 Exports of rough granite blocks have slumped in the current fiscal year despite a drastic fall in freight rate and a reduction in the price of the commodity itself.
While the freight rates for granite are down to nearly a third of what it was six months ago, export of the commodity through the two southern ports of Chennai and Tuticorin show a bleak throughput in the current fiscal. Both the ports put together handle the country’s largest granite throughput.
Freight rate to Europe for rough granite, used mostly in construction, was around $55 per tonne in August 2008. This dropped by more than half to $23 per tonne in January this year, and is currently hovering around $19 a tonne, said Mr L.T. Nanwani, Director, Jubilee Granites India Pvt Ltd. At present, the industry is pushing stocks to close the financial year. The demand from US is down by 50 per cent; while in China and Europe the demand has dropped by nearly 30 per cent.
The prices of some of the granite varieties, including black, have come down by nearly $200 per cubic metre in the last six months, to around $1,800. “We had to drop prices to sell,” Mr Nanwani said. His company is among the more fortunate ones — it has not had to cut down on manpower, only reduced operating hours. Many other granite exporters have had to shut down their operations owing to lack of orders.
Chennai port
The Chennai port handled 13 lakh tonnes of granite in 2007-08. However, this year, the export could be down nearly 44 per cent to around 9 lakh tonnes. Till March 20, the port handled 8 lakh tonnes, and might handle a lakh more in the remaining 10 days before the year runs out, says Mr K. Suresh, Chairman, Chennai Port Trust. During the fiscal, a few granite vessels were diverted to the Krishnapatnam port in Andhra Pradesh due to certain benefits there. However, they are now back in Chennai “after the trade realised the benefits of our port,” he said. At present, three ships are working at the Chennai port and a few more are likely to come in the next few days, he said.
The situation at Tuticorin port is no better. Till February of the current fiscal, the port handled 1.88 lakh tonnes of granite compared with 3.30 lakh tonnes during the corresponding period last year — a decline of nearly 75 per cent, said an official of the Tuticorin Port Trust.
Source : Business Line