Import of sponge iron from India commences through river route
With cross-border trade slowing at Petrapole-Benapole border because of coronavirus, a consignment of almost 1,100 tonnes of sponge iron has left for Bangladesh using the river route from Kolkata to Narayanganj for the first time, the official said today.
"The first vessel carrying 1,098 tonnes of sponge iron and quartz sailed from GR jetty in Kolkata and can reach Narayanganj within the next 7-8 days," Sagar Khastagir, assistant general manager of Bangladeshi port operator Summit Alliance, explained in Kolkata.
Summit Alliance is functioning in two jetties of Inland Waterways Authority in Kolkata.
The consignment of the same level of sponge iron and quartz could have required 55 trucks to move by road, he said.
Khastagir said that among the reasons for choosing the river route are actually congestion at Chittagong Port and slow pace of cargo movement through the Petrapole check-post in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district.
"We are exploring this new route to export cargo to Bangladesh. If that is successfully provided, we use this [riverine] route regularly," explained Bunty Agarwal, director of Bunty Overseas, the exporter of sponge iron.
"If it works smoothly, the simple sending goods would inspire other exporters to choose the rive route because bulk cargo may reach in one consignment," he added.
Practically 50 percent of India's sponge iron is exported to Bangladesh which uses it mostly in steel mills in the country, industry sources in India said.
India's sponge iron exports to Bangladesh rose from 67,124 tonnes in 2018 to 8,54,251 tonnes found in 2019 on the trunk of growing steel melting capacities found in Bangladesh.
