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Indian ports declare force majeure

Several major Indian ports, including those operated by Adani Ports, the country’s largest private port operator, have declared force majeure as the country started a three-week lockdown in an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

India’s shipping ministry has issued a letter allowing ports to consider the coronavirus pandemic as valid grounds for invoking force majeure on port activities and operations. The decision follows the government of India announcing a nationwide lockdown on March 24 and will affect all 1.3bn of its citizens.

Adani Ports has declared force majeure at its facilities in Mundra, Tuna and Dhamra.

“In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, port hereby notifies the force majeure event, wherein port will not be responsible for any claims, damages, charges, etc whatsoever arising out of and /or connected to the above force majeure event, either directly or indirectly, which without any limitation would include vessel demurrages, inter alia due to pre-berthing or any other delays of whatsoever nature and accordingly the discharge rate guaranteed under the agreement shall also not be applicable for all vessels to be handled at port for any delay or disturbance in the port services during the force majeure period,” Adani Ports announced.

Adani Ports added that port services are categorised as essential services and the group is endeavouring to continue port operations with the support of government authorities to protect and secure the supply chain of industries.

Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), the port operator in the Gujarat state, said in a release that the port has been ordered to remain closed until March 31 and as a result the ports have declared force majeure for all its contracts, deliverables, promises, assurances, events and occurrences.

“GMB will review the present notification of force majeure from time to time and till such time as a written notification of cessation of force majeure is issued, the present intimation shall stand,” GMB said.

The commodity trading activities at Indian ports are expected to be severely disrupted by the force majeure events.

Market intelligence consultancy Argus Media reported that coking coal imports to India have begun to be affected by the coronavirus outbreak as berthing and uploading activities are halted at some major ports including Gangavaram, Mormugao and Kakinada.

According to a Reuters report, Indian LNG importers Petronet LNG, Gujarat State Petroleum, and GAIL have all issued force majeure notices as gas demand slumps. This comes after a similar move by Chinese LNG importers last month.

India is the fourth largest LNG importer in the world, accounting for around 7% of the global LNG imports.

According to Eastport R&S, the nationwide lockdown is expected to hurt India’s palm oil imports with refineries, land transportation, and port operations all impacted. India shipped in over 9m tonnes of palm oil last year, making it the world’s largest importer by a large margin.

“Eastport R&S would highlight there is significant downside risks to estimates of estimates of palm oil import losses, given the uncertainty regarding how demand will hold up during the lockdown period, and whether or not it will be extended,” Eastport R&S said.

“India in particular is a country which is significantly reliant on imports, in particular of energy – oil, gas, coal, but also on everyday manufactured goods (cloths, electronics, machinery) which are to a large proportion imported from abroad. Hence any significant restrictions on port operations or on customs operation would first of all be very damaging to India itself,” said Ralph Leszczynski, head of research at shipbroking house Banchero Costa.

“More widely, any significant restrictions on imports to India would have an impact on coal trades from Indonesia, Australia and South Africa.  And on crude oil, LNG and LPG imports to India, which are primarily sourced from the Middle East,” Leszczynski added.

From a liner perspective, Andy Lane, head of Singapore-based CTI Consultancy, reckoned the force majeure news out of India was likely to result in greater costs.

“Where ports are either closed or congested, liners will then need to over-carry imports and discharge them elsewhere for transhipment and later shipment back to their destination ports. Additional costs, and containers detained for longer will be the outcome. The inability to lift exports can have negative impacts on load factors and utilisation,” Lane told Splash today.

Jason Jiang

Jason is one of the most prolific writers on the diverse China shipping & logistics industry and his access to the major maritime players with business in China has proved an invaluable source of exclusives. Having been working at Asia Shipping Media since inception, Jason is the chief correspondent of Splash and associate editor of Maritime CEO magazine. Previously he had written for a host of titles including Supply Chain Asia, Cargo Facts and Air Cargo Week.
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