In September, Indian shipping industry saw a slight rise with an increase in shipment volumes, driven by an increase in iron ore import by China and economic recovery in the US and Europe. Shipment volumes, across dry bulk, tanker and container carriers, have suffered in the last two years due to excess capacity and a fall in international trade.
Hence any improvement in volumes is good news for Indian shipping companies such as Shipping Corp of India, Great Eastern Shipping and Essar Shipping. There has been an uptick mainly in the dry bulk market.
This has been mainly because of iron ore demand from China. Even the Federation of Indian Export Organisations expects outbound shipments to grow 16 per cent by the end of this financial year.
On the other side, exports have benefited in the last few months due a revival in the global economy and a weak currency. Exports grew by 11.6 per cent in July and 13 per cent in August.