Kakinada Container Terminal Private Limited (KCTPL) is an all-weather Terminal in the Kakinada Deep Water Port, Andhra Pradesh which is sheltered by a natural break water.

KCT is well connected by the National Highway and the Railways to the key cities in the region. This coupled with its proximity to the cargo centers, will make KCT a natural and preferred choice for the shippers who can achieve savings in transportation cost and time.

The port is also ideally located for Amaravathi, the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh and also close to the landlocked state of Telangana which can potentially generated substantial cargo volume for the region.

KCT is located in East India’s agricultural & commodity hinterland which exports containerisable products like rice, sugar, maize, seafood and paper products. Many leading agricultural companies have setup their processing center in the region.

Kakinada Container Terminal (KCT) conducted a Trade Interaction Session at Hotel GRT Grand, Kakinada on the 25^th of May 2017.  It was intended to provide a platform for shippers, consignees, shipping lines, vessel operators, C&F Agents, Statutory bodies etc. to meet under one roof to brain storm the impediments being faced and discuss solutions to develop incrementing sustainable volumes at KCTPL.

Around 100 delegates attended the session.  Exporters of Rice, Shrimp, Sugar, Ceramics, Toys. Importers of Recycled Paper, Cashew, Chemicals were represented.  The shipping line delegates that attended included representatives from Singapore, Kolkata and Visakhapatnam. Members of statutory bodies also graced the occasion.

The meeting started with a Welcome address by Mr. M Suresh Kumar, President, Bothra Group. Mr. D Surya Narayana, President, Cocanada Chamber of Commerce made the key address. Director of KCT, Mr. M Muralidhar spoke briefly on the achievements of KCTPL FY 2016-17.  This was followed by a presentation focused on advantages of KCTPL and its performance FY 2016-17  by Mr.P Balakrishnan, Head _ Marketing KCTPL.  After this, key Liner and Feeder representatives took the stage while Mr. M Suresh Kumar initiated and moderated the interactions between the fraternities.

Mr. Antony Praveen of Parry Sugar was the first speaker during the interactions. While thanking the management of KCTPL he expressed their keen interest to increase their volumes and requested for support from various stake holders during the initial period of stabilization. Mr. Antony Lawrence representing MSC (and others after him) voiced similar sentiments. Others who spoke included Mr. Lian from Far Shipping, Singapore;Mr.Srinivasa of Pattabhi Agro, Mr. Aashish of Merilyn Shipping, Mr.Sravan of Sravan Shipping, Mr. Mehabub from RAK Ceramics, Mr. Sunil Kumar of Pals & Plush toys, Capt. Shiva Prasad of Blue Ocean,   Capt. K Vijaygopal of Seaways Shipping,  Mr. Pavan of Maersk Line, Capt. Bose of OEL, Mr. Choudhary of Apex Exports .

A statement made by Capt. K Vijaygopal subtly summed up the key outcome of the meeting when he said “Kakinada already has the cargo. We need to get to that critical mass to induce weekly services to cater to Reefer shipments, while converting imports to come through Kakinada.

Kakinada Container Terminal (KCT) conducted a Trade Interaction session in Bhimavaram on 01^st September,held at Hotel Ananda Inn, the session was attended by shipping lines and service providers  from Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and come in from Vizag.  The Joint Commissioner of Customs Shri. S N Reddy was the Guest of Honour.  The shrimp export fraternity present included senior members including Managing Directors Mr. Surya Rao, Mr. Anand, Mr. Ramesh Varma, Mr. Jagadeeh, and Mr. Srinivasa Raju.

MSC Line had a prominent presence, and Mr. IndrajitSengupta, President, Marketing introduced his team. Mr. Krishnakumar, Regional Manager MSC also made a presentation profiling the line, its management and impressive array of services and announced  the reefer services from Kakinada.

Representatives of other lines present also spoke: Mr. Vignesh Krishnan of Maersk stated that the line has been growing at this location and were watching the development. Mr. Eshwar of BLPL, while stating the leading role their line was playing at this port, stated that they were bringing in a second and larger import consignment the very next week.  Others who spoke included Mr.Santosh representing Hyundai, and Mr. Rajesh Gujjarlapudi, MD of Seashell Ltd., Mumbai who stated that they are already have representation in Bhimavaram and Kakinada, among many other locations.

It was the Hon. Joint Commissioner Mr. S N Reddy who earlier enthused the gathering, underlining the user friendly nature of the Customs.  He stated the achievement and recognition Kakinada Customs had received on a pan-country basis, and also introduced his officers who were present who were located close to the trade at Bhimavaram.

The introduction by Mr. M Muralidhar, Director, KCT had set the ball rolling, just after the start of the meeting. Mr. M Suresh Kumar, President, Bothra Shipping also spoke on behalf of the port. Mr. P Balakrishnan made a brief presentation profiling KCT.

The general refrain of the trade was that enhanced services at Kakinada would be a welcome development especially due to the proximity of Kakinada to the cultured prawn producers.