Mercantile looking for customers after inaugurating port facility

Mercantile Ports & Logistics announced on Tuesday that the inauguration ceremony of its port and logistics facility at Karanja Creek, near Navi Mumbai, took place successfully on 8 March.

The AIM-traded firm said the event was presided over by the Honourable Chief Minister of Maharashtra, with attendees including the Honourable Minister of Fisheries Development, Mahadev Jankar, the Honourable Minister of State for Ports, Ravindra Chavan, the Principal Secretary for Ports and the Vice Chairman of the Maharashtra Maritime Board, along with other state government officials, dignitaries and existing contracted and potential customers of the facility.

It said the ceremony followed assurances that the full customs approval process would be concluded “shortly”, and coincided with the company's first revenue generated from customer cargo operations, discharging steel products for one of India's leading steel producers.

While initially small, Mercantile’s said the operation took place after a successful trial and was another “proud milestone” for the firm, claiming that it demonstrated the increasing interest major industrial businesses had in the facility.

“The inauguration was an opportunity for non-executive directors of the board and for advisers to the company to meet customers and see, first hand, the growing demand for the facility,” Mercantile’s directors explained.

“Now that the facility has reached this point, it is clear that the company has options as to which types of business it should pursue, as potential customers have varying merits such as speed of implementation, price, infrastructure required and length of contract.”

Mercantile said the facility was designed to be flexible in the type of cargo that it could handle and store, with the board said to be “delighted” that the strategy had given it multiple options.

“In the coming weeks, alongside the company continuing to handle shipments of cargo for immediate delivery to customers, management and the board will complete the analysis of the longer-term benefits of the various customers with which it is engaged in order to maximise value for shareholders as the facility matures.”