PH cargo throughput up 13.8% but box volumes slip in 1H

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Manila International Container Terminal, the Philippines'. Photo courtesy of International Container Terminal Services, Inc.
Manila International Container Terminal, the Philippines'. Photo courtesy of International Container Terminal Services, Inc.
Manila International Container Terminal handled the most foreign containerized cargoes in the first half of 2014. Photo courtesy of International Container Terminal Services, Inc, operator of the MICT.

Cargo volume handled by Philippine ports in the first half of 2014 increased 13.28% to 105.15 million metric tons (mmt) from 92.82 mmt in the same period last year, data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) showed.

Foreign cargo tonnage jumped 19.5% to 65.186 mmt from 54.547 mmt, while domestic volume posted a modest increase of 4.42% to 39.96 mmt from 38.27 mmt.

According to the port authority, growth was observed in 14 port management offices (PMOs) with Surigao, Iloilo, and Puerto Princesa enjoying the biggest improvement with 86.08%, 59.67%, and 17.18%, respectively.

Of PPA’s 24 PMOs, Batangas was the top performer in cargo volume with a share of 11.53 mmt, or 10.97% of the total cargo throughput, surpassing even the combined throughput of port district offices and PMOs in Southern Mindanao.

North Harbor followed with 10.75 mmt, Limay with 8.66 mmt, and Puerto Princesa with 7.01 mmt. PPA attributed the volume growth at these ports largely to the sustained favorable performance of private ports.

Private ports continued to dominate, handling 67.53 mmt, or a 61.37% share of total cargo volume, while government ports contributed 40.61 mmt or 38.63%.

 

Container traffic and ship calls slow down

PPA_statsContainer traffic saw a 2.95% decline to 2.577 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) in the period January to June 2014 from 2.656 million TEUs in the same period last year.

North Harbor remained the top port when it comes to domestic containerized cargoes, processing 504,888 TEUs in the first half.

Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), meanwhile, still handled the most in foreign containerized cargoes with 857,787 TEUs, followed by Manila South Harbor with 450,794 TEUs, and Davao with 123,266 TEUs.

However, container traffic in two of Manila’s international gateways — MICT and South Harbor — declined in the first half of 2014.

Comparative figures from MICT showed a 3.82% drop in container volume to 889,128 TEUs from 924,525 TEUs in the first half of 2013.

In June alone, container traffic fell 5.66% to 146,918 TEUs from 157,734 TEUs in June 2013.

Volume at the Manila South Harbor likewise contracted by 59,939 TEUs or 11.74% from last year’s figures.

 

Possible effects of the truck ban

According to PPA, the decline in the volume of containerized cargoes “warrants taking a look into the possible effect of the recently imposed truck ban by the City Government of Manila.”

“Pending release of full-year data on boxed volume for 2014, the impact of the Manila truck ban on the efficient turnaround of containers, which may affect MICT and South Harbor capacity, remains to be seen,” PPA pointed out.

Ship calls dwindled 2.46% to 181,068 in the first half of 2014 compared with 185,630 in the same period last year.

Foreign ship calls plunged 6.96% to 4,802 from 5,161 last year, while domestic calls slid 2.33% to 176,266 from 180,469.

Passenger volume, on the other hand, reached 30.491 million, 3.65% higher than the 29.419 million posted last year. – Roumina Pablo