Rail freight traffic in India drops by 2.7% m-o-m in July 2022: ICRA

Cargo traffic at ports and non-oil merchandise exports fell month-on-month in the month of July in 2022 with weakening external demand in the midst of recession fears across the world, according to a report titled ‘ICRA Business Activity Monitor – An Index of High Frequency Economic Indicators August 2022’.

Rail freight traffic volumes in India went down by 2.7 per cent month-on-month to 122.1 MT in July 2022, which led to a four-month low year-on-year growth of 8.3 per cent in the month (+11.3 per cent year-on-year in June 2022), according to ICRA. Cargo traffic at ports and non-oil merchandise exports fell month-on-month in the month of July in 2022.

Non-oil exports also dropped by 5.0 per cent month-on-month to $29.8 billion in July 2022, with deteriorating external demand and sequential correction in prices of goods because of growing recession concerns.

Moreover, cargo managed at ports in India moderated by 3.9 per cent to 63.4 million tonne in July 2022, relative to 65.9 million tonne each in May-June 2022, reflecting the decline in merchandise exports in the face of global recession fears, added the report.

The ICRA Business Activity Monitor, which is an index of high frequency economic indicators, fell by 2.6 per cent on a month-on-month basis to a five-month low of 113.5 in July 2022, much more than the 0.6 per cent month-on-month dip seen in July 2019, as heavy rains impacted electricity generation, coal output (and thereby rail freight traffic), and diesel consumption.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)