Cargo volume handled by Philippine ports in the first five months of 2016 grew 7.76% to 93.36 million metric tons (mmt) from 86.64 mmt in the same period in 2015, according to latest data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
The agency attributed the increase to substantial volume improvement in 18 port management offices (PMOs), with Ozamiz, Agusan, Mindoro, Bataan/Aurora, and National Capital Region North enjoying the biggest growth at 214.42%, 69.86%, 51.96%, 26.08%, and 25.96%, respectively. PPA noted that both international and domestic cargoes at government and private ports in these PMOs expanded during the period.
Newly appointed PPA general manager Atty. Jay Daniel Santiago, in a media briefing on July 13, said this year’s target increase in volume is 9%.
Foreign cargoes rose 7.85% to 54.85 mmt from January to May 2016 from 50.86 mmt in the same period in 2015. Imports jumped 15% to 34.07 mmt from 29.61 mmt while exports declined 2.21% to 20.77 mmt from 21.24 mmt previously.
Domestic cargoes reached 38.51 mmt, up 7.63% from 35.78 mmt in 2015.
PPA said Manila North Harbor remains the top performer in domestic cargo volume with 9.46 mmt, or a 24.56% share of total domestic volumes or a 10.13% slice of the total throughput for the period. Cagayan de Oro followed with 1.95 mmt, then Iloilo with 1.12 mmt and Davao with 0.83 mmt.
Private ports handled 55.90 mmt or 59.88% of the total cargo volume nationwide while government ports accounted for 37.46 mmt or 40.12%.
Container cargo up 4%
In terms of containerized cargoes, volume in the first five months went up 4.23% to 2.56 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 2.46 million TEUs in the same period last year.
Foreign container volume grew 3.69% to 1.54 million TEUs from 1.49 million TEUs while domestic container throughput rose 5% to 1.02 million TEUs from 968,865 TEUs.
Manila North Harbor continued to rank first in domestic containerized volume with 478,657 TEUs.
Manila International Container Terminal handled the most international containers with 859,920 TEUs, followed by Manila South Harbor with 401,627 TEUs.
Ship calls, meanwhile, went up 18.01% to 183,589 from 155,567. Domestic ship calls rose 18% to 179,654 from 152,238 while foreign vessel calls rose 18.2% to 3,935 from 3,329.
Passenger traffic reached 31.97 million, 17.31% higher than the 27.25 million registered in the same period last year. – Roumina Pablo
