Santanu Sanyal

It is nearly one-and-half years since TM International Logistics LTD (TMILL), a joint venture between Tata Steel and Martrade Holding GmbH of Germany, came into being mainly to undertake port operations for Tata Steel and other companies. TMIL started with the acquisition of a berth (No. 12)at the Haldia dock on long term lease. It has since spread its wings to other ports with plans for further expansion and added to its activity for providing total logistics solution. The TMIL Managing Director, Mr. S.C.Saxena, spoke to Business Line on the current business levels, the future prospects and operations.

Excerpts from interview:

Not too bad. We handled the first vessel, m.v. aritime Lapis at Haldia on March 23,202. the vessel brought 23,000 tonnes of limestone (imports) for Tata Steel. In 2002-03, the throughput of Haldia dock’s berth No. 12, which we have acquired on long-term lease, was 7.6 lakh tones, representing 76 per cent capacity utilization.

Due to fast turnaround of the vessels at the berth, a saving of $2 per tonne of freight was achieved for the users of the berth.

    

Aren’t you active in other ports?

Yes, we are active also in Paradip and Mumbai and at other berths at Haldia. In 2002-03, our total throughput in all the three ports taken together was 4.3 million tones (Haldia2014 million tones including eight lakh tones in berth No. 12, Paradip 1.76 million tones and Mumbai 0.4 million tones); 81 per cent of the traffic handled was on Tata Steel account and the balance 19 per cent for others such as tata Metalik,

DPL and Bhartia and Company. During the year under review, our turnover was Rs 73 crore and PAT of Rs 5.75 crore and the EVA positive. Not a bad achievement I suppose considering that we started a little more than a year ago.

Mostly bulk items such as, coal, limestone, (imports) and chrome ore, chrome concentrate and ferro-alloy, etc., and also finished steel items (exports). But we are open to handling non-bulk items even containers.

Proper management with accent on team effort, providing good infrastructure support and capping it all, focus on customers.

Yes, and perhaps rightly so. After all we have acquired a berth at Haldia on long-term lease and we must make a success out of it. We propose to spend about Rs 25 crore for upgrading facilities in the berth. We have already spent Rs 5 crore or so.

We will spend another Rs 12 crore shortly on acquisition of a mobile crane to be deployed in the berth. And I must admit that our experience so far at Haldia has been very satisfactory.

The Chairman of Kolkata Port Trust as also the Deputy Chairman in charge of Haldia dock and other officials have been very supportive. But we are also looking into opportunities in other ports, both on the east and west coasts.

Certainly not. True, we started with port operations. However, with the merger of the two divisions (ship chartering, and Shipping and Clearing divisions) of TKM (Tata Korf Maritime), a Tata group of company, into TMIL, we are now geared to offer total logistics solution. We have started ship chartering and clearing and forwarding operations. We are doing time chartering for vessels for Tata Steel as well as others.

The manager will boost our business straightaway by Rs 160 crore or so.

It will be a rash claim that the proposal has made any significant headway. For whatever reason, Coeclerici, which was to be our foreign partner for the operation, appears to have developed cold feet about the project. It is now insisting on our participation in the equity to the extent of at least 30 per cent. We are not sure as yet whether agreeing to it will make any economic sense in the long run.

At least five million tonnes and the bulk of it should come from the increased throughputs at Haldia and Paradip.

    

What about Mumbai ?

In Mumbai we handle thermal coal imports for Tata Power.

Yes, Tata Power has plans for constructing a jetty for its own use.

However, we’ve given them an alternative suggestion for providing a total logistics solution, which also covers construction of a jetty. We are yet to hear from them. At Mumbai as also in certain ports in Gujarat, we are also planning to handle cargoes for others such as cement plants located in that region.

Martrade, our partner, on its own imports about half a million tones of specialized steel through Mumbai. We would like to handle that cargo. We are exploring all kinds of opportunities.

Tata Steel, as you are perhaps aware, has started exporting iron ore and we will be handling the exports. We therefore, need a deep draft berth for handling the projected volumn of ore exports. It need not necessarily be in a major port though we are keeping our eyes and ears open on major ports planning private participation in the construction and operation of berths.

For example, we are mulling if we could involve ourselves in the berths being constructed in Visakhaptanam port by vizag Seaports Ltd. we are also open to minor ports. On the west coast there are as many as 163 minor ports and 91 of them in Gujarat amd Maharashtra. We are very keen to have a minor port in west Bengal, at least a jetty of our own closer to the sea.

Frankly, our thrust will be re-engineering of total logistics services for the entire Tata group. The total logistics business of the group, covering port operations, warehousing, ship chartering and clearing and forwarding work, will be in excess of Rs 800 crore.

No, not at all. We have to compete with others and secure business on our own strength based on competitive rates and efficient services. No special favour will be shown to us by any of the Tata group companies just because we are a member of the group. No way.

My biggest headache is how to cope with the unethical practices rampant in a sector which is as unorganized as the one in which we are now operating. In the Tata group, we’re used to working in a professionally managed environment. But what we experience now is very different. Perhaps there lies the challenge.

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