Calcutta Freight Brokers Association holds its 87th AGM

 

Calcutta Freight Brokers Association (CFBA) organised its 87th AGM on July 18 2025 in Kolkata, which was graced by Mr Sanjay Kushwah, Managing Director, Hapag LLyod India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh. Mr Kushwah was the Chief Guest on the occasion. The event was also graced by Mr Ajay Chhajer, Chairman, Calcutta Freight Brokers Association; Mr Vivek Chowdhury, Vice Chairman, Calcutta Freight Brokers Association; committee members Mr Bharat Jain, Mr Rajiv Agarwalla, Mr Pawan Farmania, Mr Manoj Vyas, Mr Ashish Lakhotia, Mr Tapan Purkait, Mr Shreyans Jain, Mr Uday Chopra and Mr Abhay Surana; distinguished guests from Mumbai, Kolkata and fellow members of CFBA. The Chairman welcomed the guests and spoke at length about the prevailing situation in the world and India. He also pointed out how to make Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port  a leader in the shipping sector, as per a release.

The global trade environment is defined by a chain of geopolitical flashpoints, but the shipping industry is positive towards world trade growth. The first half of 2025 saw the global cellular fleet grow by 1.18 m TEU, an increase of 3.8% since January 2025. This expansion was driven by MSC, which alone accounted for 31% of total growth, further establishing its market leadership. Japanese carrier ONE, Hyundai and Evergreen also increased their fleet substantially.

Amid this global storm, India has shown remarkable resilience. Despite external headwinds, we’re looking at GDP growth touching between  6-7%, sustained by strong domestic demand, infrastructure investments, and a growing manufacturing base.  The Prime Minister has given the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.  India aims to become a global powerhouse with a targeted GDP between 30-40 trillion dollars, which means between 7-10% of global trade share, from the present 2%.

Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port handled 66.45 million tonnes of cargo in FY 2023–24, which declined to 63.95 mt in 2024-25, but there is impressive growth in Q12025, handling 17.186 million tonnes. A 21.215% growth over the same period last year. This was mainly due to an increase of 33.21% in vegetable oils; coking coal throughput climbing to 2.653 metric tons, registering 34.28% growth. Petroleum oil lubricants volumes saw a healthy rise, touching 2.495 mt, an increase of 14.45%.

He also talked about a major shift in the policy of Kolkata port operations. Berth Nos. 1 to 5 operations were awarded to the Adani Group in Nov’24 for a five-year Operation and Maintenance (O&M) contract,   while JSW Infrastructure Limited  recently received the Letter of Award from Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Authority for the reconstruction of Berth 8 and mechanisation of Berths 7 and 8 at Netaji Subhas Dock, Kolkata. The project has been awarded based on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer. Once berths 7-8 reconstruction is completed, the project is expected to significantly enhance both operational efficiency and capacity, as per the release.

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