CHENNAI: The impending closure of American carmaker Ford’s plant in Chennai means a loss of good chunk of business for one of the city’s biggest ports. Until recently, the Ford company used to export about 60,000 cars a year through the Kamarajar Port at Ennore, which is estimated as 30 per cent of the 2 lakh vehicles the port handles annually.
With Ford set to shut its plant in the first quarter of 2022, Kamrajar Port chairman Sunil Paliwal has been exploring other avenues to tide over the impact. “We have already entered into long-term agreements with Isuzu and Daimler. We are also looking at one or two possibilities, which are likely to fructify before December; and if that happens, the new clients will compensate for what we are losing from Ford,” Paliwal told TNIE. However, he refused to divulge any further details about the new clients.
“The same volume that Ford was doing in 2019-2020 will be replaced by a new client by December 2021. The new client has given their requirements. We are working out technical details,” said Paliwal. Meanwhile, Paliwal is positive that trade will pick up at Kamarajar Port in 2022-23. “We expect to cross the volume of exporting more than 2 lakh cars,” he said. Car exports have dwindled in both Chennai and Kamarajar Ports following Covid-19 lockdown last year and are slowly growing in recent months. Kamarajar port saw a drop of 50 per cent in volumes last year.