Port & Infrastructure Consultant

A Port is merely a gateway for the import, export or coastal cargo movements. It neither generates nor consumes cargo. Hence, the traffic generated at the port is a function of 3 broad parameters stated as follows:

• Landside connectivity to the Hinterland
• Port infrastructure
• Marine side connectivity

The cargo prefers the port that provides minimum time and minimum integrated logistics cost. Mantrana’s approach would involve running through multiple iterations of cargo flow and the costs incurred during the cargo flow for a given Port. A port may decide to slash its tariff and handling charges in comparison to its immediate competitor. However, if the same port’s turnaround time is twice as much as that of its competitor, then the high turnaround time would undermine the cost benefit of lower tariff. This would increase the total integrated logistic cost of Cargo and will prove to be an expensive proposition for the shippers. Here the advantage of reduction in tariff and handling charges is undermined. Thus, Mantrana will analyze the traffic route based on both quantitative and qualitative parameters to arrive at the potential traffic which could call at the Port.

Mantrana will also factor in a gamut of other significant parameters that would influence the flow of cargo. For projection purposes, Mantrana will also undertake sensitivity analysis of different parameters and their impact on the future cargo being attracted to the Port.

Following is the breakup of analysis for cargo traffic projection:  

Landside connectivity to the Hinterland

Based on the import/export cargo distribution for different commodity for a given Port, Mantrana will analyze the cost of land transportation using all possible combinations of roadways, railways, etc. The impact of upcoming connectivity infrastructure would also be considered, and tentative logistics cost will be arrived at. The impact of congestion at roads, toll charges, taxes related to cargo movement would also be considered.

Cost of handling at Port

Mantrana will run a sensitivity analysis for all the commodity and volume which are likely to call to the Port in future. Industrial development, rise in retail consumption and production locally, are some of the other parameters that will be factored in while drawing the conclusion. The sensitivity will assess the impact of tariff, draft, backup area and other quantitative as well as qualitative aspects.  

Marine side connectivity

Mantrana will arrive at the shipping cost and time involved from the Port to the source or destination of cargo. It will iterate the costing while including different types of ships for different commodities. A similar analysis will be carried out for the nearby competitors of the Port. The objective of this analysis would be to arrive at a combination of parameters which provides least cost and faster turnaround of a ship at the Port. The analysis will also help identify the type and volume of a commodity that finds the region the Port is located in commercially attractive.

The final projection of traffic will be undertaken in various scenarios.