Shipping lines and truckers are reviewing current developments to assess whether to revert charges to pre-Manila truck ban levels.
Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, who also heads the Cabinet Cluster on Port Decongestion (CCPD), on March 2 announced that the Manila port was back to normal operations and congestion had eased. However, port stakeholders and the private sector are still taking a wait-and-see attitude before returning rates to pre-congestion levels.
“Lines are reviewing and are watching how things develop in the next few weeks,” Association of International Shipping Lines (AISL) president Patrick Ronas told PortCalls in a text message.
“When vessel berthing windows are back then we can expect changes,” Ronas added. He noted that the timing of reduction in port-related charges will ultimately depend on the individual shipping line.
The liner executive said carriers usually look at “no waiting time to berth” and “productivity of the cranes” as criteria for saying a port is not congested.
As for truckers, Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP) chairman Rodolfo De Ocampo told PortCalls in a chance interview that their organization is looking at reverting to its guide rates (adopted in Jan 2014) before the Manila truck ban was implemented. Members of CTAP, as well as other trucking associations, increased their rates in April last year due to the slow turnaround resulting from the imposition of the Manila truck ban.
CTAP director Ruperto Bayocot, however, noted some trucks have already cut their rates especially when demand for trips is high, such as on Thursdays and Fridays. He also said some truck operators that have contracts with clients have not increased their rates. Those that have mostly do not have regular clients, Bayocot pointed out.
Meanwhile, Carl Fontanilla, president of the Container Depot Alliance of the Philippines, said utilization by member depots is still in the 80% level as of the first week of March.
“It looks like we’re back to normal at the off-dock CYs (container yards),” Fontanilla told PortCalls in a text message. He added that the flow of trucks delivering empty containers to depots has also gone back to normal.
AISL’s Ronas said shipping lines are continually repositioning their empty containers out of the country, partly in line with the new directive by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) that shortens the period of stay of empty containers in the country from 150 days to 90 days before they are slapped with duties and taxes.
BOC has given shipping lines until end of April to reposition all affected empty containers.
Meanwhile, utilization inside the Manila port’s two international container terminals has further gone down a week after Almendras’ announcement on March 2.
According to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), combined yard utilization in Manila International Container Terminal and Manila South Harbor fell to 69%, below the 79% to 84% yard utilization range mentioned by Almendras earlier. – Roumina Pablo
