Cargo volume at Philippine ports reached 9.36% to 103.556 million metric tons (mmt) in May from 94.692 mmt in the same month last year, latest data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) revealed.
PPA general manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago, in a statement, said growth was propelled by “strong domestic consumption and (a) generally positive business atmosphere”.
He added that the import industry’s positive performance and resilience of the domestic market helped keep at bay effects of foreign exchange deterioration and strains in the mining industry.
In a separate operational highlights report, PPA said growth was achieved “notwithstanding the uncertainties brought about by security concerns in the Mindanao region,” referring to ongoing skirmishes between government troops and militant groups sympathizing with ISIS in Marawi City.
Of the total cargo throughput in May, foreign cargo accounted for 61.304 mmt, up 9.43% to from 56.023 mmt. Import shipments of 39.139 mmt saw a 13.90% increase due to “strong private consumption”, while export shipments of 22.164 mmt jumped 2.34% “despite the weakened regional and global demand as new markets were exploited for the country’s export goods”, PPA said.
Domestic cargoes rose by 9.27% to 42.251 mmt against last year’s 38.669 mmt. The increase is due to higher trade transactions aided by reliance on water-borne transportation in trading, according to the agency.
Container traffic reached 2.911 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), 13.71% higher than the 2.560 million TEUs handled in May 2016. Foreign and domestic container volume rose by 12.73% to 1.73 million TEUs, and 15.17% to 1.18 million TEUs, respectively.
Manila ports’ performance remained productive as ports continued to be clear of congestion, with “combined yard utilization of 57%, berth occupancy rate of 57% and quay crane productivity of 26 moves an hour per crane” in May, PPA said.
In terms of berth occupancy, the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) recorded 63.25%, South Harbor 54.8%, and North Harbor 52.42%.
Yard utilization among the Manila ports was highest for South Harbor at 69.5%, followed by MICT at 58.76% and North Harbor at 42.76%.
MICT topped quay crane productivity in May at 28.88, followed by South Harbor’s 27.08 and North Harbor’s 23.26.
Reduced domestic vessel traffic cut ship calls by 0.58% to 182,427. The decrease was due to successive trip cancellations, mostly by motorized bancas and other fast crafts, owing to poor weather conditions, and routine maintenance limiting the number of trips, PPA said.
Domestic ship calls slipped 0.58% to 177,438 while foreign ship calls inched up 3.19% to 4,989.
Passenger traffic posted a 2.60% growth to 32.82 million from 31.99 million. Volume was enhanced by a surge in the volume of travelers during Holy Week, and increasing use of water-borne transportation for interisland connectivity, PPA explained. – Aubrey Joyce Bajo
