THE Manila North Harbor has finally registered
an increase in cargo and ship traffic in July making it one
of a few Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)-controlled ports
to record positive results this year.
Cargo volume for July was up 2.5% to 1.1 million metric tons
(mmt) from the previous year’s 1.07 mmt.
For the seven-month period, volume rose 3% to 7.42 mmt from
the previous year’s 7.2 mmt.
Container traffic also grew almost 4% to 50,093 twenty-foot
equivalent units (TEUs) from 48,323 TEUs.
Ship traffic increased to 373 vessels in July from the previous
370 vessels.
From January to July, there were 2,687 vessels that called
on the port, up from 2,662 vessels last year.
The PPA noted the vessels docked at the port have less gross
revenue tons compared to last year.
Passenger traffic remained weak in July, declining another
18% to 84,780 from the previous 103,478 passengers.
For the seven-month period, total passenger traffic only reached
909,667 compared with 1.19 million a year earlier.
Next month, the PPA will inject P35.67 million to further
develop the port to increase efficiency and attract more investors
in time for its privatization program next year.
The PPA is still awaiting word from the National Economic
and Development Authority Investment Coordination Committee
if there is a need to revise the port privatization terms
of reference it submitted.
DHL Express Philippines is looking at tapping
the agriculture sector for expansion and growth next year
even as it continues to focus on infrastructure and electronics.
ÒConsidering it is a good market, the agriculture sector
has so far remained untapped even by other express providers.
However, (our) investments will not be as extensive compared
to (our) other businesses in the country,Ó DHL direct
business sales manager Jose Miguel Habana said at a business
forum last week.
Catering to the logistics needs of small and medium-scale
enterprises (SMEs) involved in agri-business, particularly
those in the countryside, is one way to help increase business
efficiencies, he said. ÒWe want to provide SMEs all
the opportunity to market their products,Ó Habana added.
DHL’s program for the sector will be rolled out within
the second quarter of the year.
Other growth areas for the express operator are the mining,
garments, consumer goods and automotive sectors.
This year, DHL Phils is eyeing a 30% rise in business due
mainly to the increasing volume of electronics exports, which
account for more than half of the company’s outbound
shipments. The growth is more than the 10-12% average annual
growth of the industry.
Last year, DHL outgrew the market by more than 10% due to
the strong performance of the electronics sector. This compensated
for the lower-than-expected performance from other sources
such as financial servicing and shared services like call
centers.
INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services
Inc (ICTSI) recently signed a new 10-year container terminal
concession for the Port of Tartous located in the south of
Syria.
ICTSI was awarded the Tartous container terminal concession
following a competitive international tendering process, which
saw it emerge as the preferred bidder. Enrique K. Razon Jr.,
ICTSI chairman and chief executive officer, formally signed
the concession on behalf of ICTSI and Zaki Najib, General
Manager, on behalf of Tartous Port General Company.
ICTSI plans to invest US$37 million to develop the new container
terminal over the lifetime of the concession. The investments
will include modern container handling hardware, state-of-the-art
IT systems, manpower and other facilities.
Located on the North Quay, Pier B in the port, the concession
site comprises 540 meters of quay with a draught of 12-13
meters alongside and a 250,000-square meter terminal area.
Operations are scheduled to commence in early 2007 with these
incorporating a specialized over-the-quay container handling
system in the short-term.
Speaking on the occasion of the signing ceremony Razon said:
ÒThe Syrian container market has seen double-digit
growth since 2000, and ICTSI is very pleased to be at the
center of this dynamic new market and the pioneering port
privatization initiative in Tartous, the first of its kind
in the country. Our experience record of working in six continents
of the world, often in challenging environments and focusing
on medium throughput container terminals, makes us ideally
equipped to undertake the challenge in Tartous, and we have
every confidence that this terminal will quickly become a
valuable addition to the growing portfolio of ICTSI terminals
worldwide.Ó
The port of Tartous is the first port in Syria to introduce
foreign expertise into its container handling operations;
it has done so at a time when many analysts are forecasting
sustained strong growth in container handling operations in
Syria and the region as a whole.
Interest is already visible from Asian carriers and anticipated
from an increased number of European carriers creating a scenario
that some analysts liken to the rapid growth of direct services
experienced in the Black Sea.
The signing ceremony for the concession took place in Lattakia.
Among the officials in attendance were the Minister and Deputy
Minister of the Syrian Ministry of Transport and the Governors
of Lattakia and Tartous.
MICP,
POM fall short of customs collection targets
THE Manila International Container Port (MICP)
and the Port of Manila (POM) failed to meet their respective
monthly collection targets together with six other district
ports nationwide, according to a report from the Bureau of
Customs (BOC).
The report showed that the MICP and POM posted a collection
shortfall of P1.226 billion and P781 million, respectively,
in their October 2006 take.
MICP collected only P4.409 billion from its monthly target
of P5.635 billion.
Compared to the January-to-October goal of P47.995 billion,
MICP earned only P38.316 billion bringing the cumulative shortage
to P9.678 billion for the ten-month period.
POM also failed to hit its October target of P6.513 billion
when it collected P5.732 billion.
Other Customs ports that failed to meet their October collection
targets were the Ninoy Aquino International Airport which
took in P1.337 billion against its P1.662-billion goal or
a shortfall of P326 million; Cagayan de Oro with a P135-million
shortfall from its P296-million target; the Port of Cebu with
a P103-million shortfall from its P500-million target; and
Zamboanga with a P2.4 million deficit.
The ports of Surigao took in only P1.8 million compared with
its October target of P7.6 million, falling short by P5.8
million; Davao with a P2.4-million deficit in its P5-million
objective; and Legaspi with a P1-million shortage in its P1.63-million
target.
Ports that overshot their monthly targets were Batangas with
a P3.963-billion surplus, Subic and Tacloban with P13 million
and P12 million excess collection each, Iloilo with P4 million
extra collection and San Fernando, La Union with a P2-million
surplus.
UNITED Parcel Service (UPS) is optimistic
of reaching its intra-Asia volume growth target of 30% for
2006 despite erratic cargo traffic.
ÒMonth-to-month volume passing through the intra-Asia
hub is unpredictable. But in terms of total cargo volume,
we’re still okay,Ó UPS intra-Asia hub and gateway
manager Arturo Areola said. He declined to provide statistics.
The China factor has been partly blamed for the erratic cargo
volume. Areola said a significant percentage of cargoes is
now directly shipped to and from China. The volume is expected
to further drop when UPS starts full commercial operations
of its China hub in 2007.
Earlier, Areola said Japan has dislodged China as the main
destination for Philippine exports.
UPS maintains its Asia-Pacific hub in Clarkfield, Pampanga.
Recently, UPS expanded the hub to sort some 7,500 packages
per day. UPS is also set to further strengthen its hub as
several flights are expected to be diverted to the country
from China in the next couple of months.
To date, UPS has 80 flights to China and 120 flights to Clark
weekly. In April, UPS introduced three more flights to China
and Clark. The company is also working out several air agreements
with China to service more points to increase current flights
both in China and Clark. All service agreements in China will
be connected to Clark before cargoes will be transported to
Europe and the US.
Marina: More shipping firms
but less vessels in 2005
EVEN as more shipping firms registered with
the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) in 2005, vessel acquisition
in the domestic and overseas shipping sectors for that year
has dropped considerably compared to 2004, Marina said in
its 2005 accomplishment report.
The report showed there were 574 shipping companies that registered
in 2005, up 13% from the 506 in 2004. Yet there were only
75 vessels approved for acquisition for the period, or a decrease
of 39% from the 123 vessels in 2004. Of the 75, 88% or 66
vessels were acquired through bareboat charter/importation,
and the rest were locally constructed.
Vessels registered also went south, down 29% over the 2004
figure, as did the issuance of the Certificate to Navigate
which decreased 61%.
The number of special permits issued for overseas vessels
to temporarily engage in the domestic trade dropped 2% from
41 issuances approved in 2004 to 40 in 2005. The permit to
operate issuances likewise decreased 55% in 2005 in view of
the non-submission by the Philippine Coast Guard to the Marina
of data issued on this deputized function. However, the special
permit to load inflammable cargoes soared 123%.
