ANNOUNCEMENTS
This study aims to better understand the causes of delays and high turnaround time at the Visakhapatnam port by breaking down data regarding the components and constraints of turnaround time at the port. The data used for the first objective was obtained from the port’s traffic management system that keeps track of every movement of ships inside the port premises. The study also aims to find the relationship between shipping prices and domestic inflation in the Indian context, and this was done by using a Structural VAR model that accounted for various shocks that impacted shipping prices in recent years. The study is done with the understanding that compounding delays at ports leads to congestion and any delays and congestion increases the shipping prices. Thus, the first part of the study aims to understand delays at a granular level and also tackle them. While the second part of the study aims to see how much shocks to freight prices impact the domestic inflation of India. The results show the need for the Visakhapatnam Port to increase mechanization at the port to handle the rapidly increasing cargo handling capacity. And it also shows that there is a pass-through from freight price shocks to Consumer Price Index.
Keywords: Delays and Congestion at Ports, Structural VAR, freight price shocks, inflation pass-through.
