Salt export from India moves in bulk vessels loaded at ports on the Gujarat coast, with Kandla (officially Deendayal Port) the best-known name. A bulk salt vessel takes a parcel of thousands of tonnes in its holds, loaded from stockpiles near the port, instead of bags in containers.
Gujarat's Kutch region is a major salt-producing area, as explained in why Kutch produces salt. This article covers what happens between the salt works and the vessel, and what a buyer should check.
How does bulk salt get from the pans to the vessel?
Salt is harvested and washed at the works, stockpiled, and then moved to the port by truck or rail. At the port it is stored in a yard or warehouse until a vessel arrives. Loading uses conveyors, grabs or shore equipment, and at some berths cargo is moved by barge or lighter to a vessel at anchor.
Depth at the berth limits how much a vessel can load. A ship may complete loading at a deeper anchorage, or sail part-laden, which affects the tonnage you can book. Ask your forwarder or the ship's broker where the parcel will complete.
What vessel sizes and terms are used?
Salt is usually carried on handy-size or handymax bulk carriers, chartered for a laycan, the window in which the ship must arrive. Delays in loading generate demurrage, which is a charge for time lost. For a bulk parcel, read the charter party terms as carefully as the sales contract. Freight options for bulk minerals compares bulk, container and bag options.
A bulk sale is typically agreed FOB at the loading port, so the buyer arranges the ship and the seller loads the cargo. Check who pays for trimming the cargo in the hold and for the draft survey. The full range of options is in how salt is shipped.
What can go wrong with bulk salt?
- Rain and the monsoon season slow loading at open berths and can leave moisture in the pile, so schedule shipments with the weather in mind.
- Contamination from earlier cargoes in the hold, which is why hold cleanliness must be inspected and passed before loading.
- Moisture and caking if the stockpile is not covered or the cargo sits too long.
- Quantity disputes, which a draft survey on loading is meant to settle.
- Quality drift from different stockpiles blended into one parcel.
What documents and checks should you ask for?
Ask for a certificate of analysis for the parcel, a quality and quantity certificate from an independent surveyor, the bill of lading, the certificate of origin and the commercial invoice. Purity and moisture limits belong in the contract: see what purity industrial salt should have and how to check moisture and purity at loading.
Minimum parcel sizes vary. Our note on MOQ for bulk minerals and salt explains how sellers think about them, and Gujarat ports for chemical cargo compares the ports.
How we help
We find and audit the salt producer, check samples and documents, have lots tested and supervise loading. To plan a bulk parcel, book a free sourcing review.