Cargo volume at Philippine ports grew 5% in 2014 to 211.2 million metric tons (mmt) from 201.91 mmt in 2013, according to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
Of the total, foreign cargoes accounted for 133.29 mmt from 124.05 mmt, a 7.45% improvement. Imports represented 67.56 mmt, up 11.29%, and exports 65.73 mmt, an increase of 3.77%.
The boost came from exports of river sand, magnetite sand, crude minerals, nickel ore, limestone ore, clinker and slag, coconut oil and copra, fruits, and fish, as well as the sizeable importation of fuel, coal, grains, and fertilizers, PPA said.
Domestic cargo volume for 2014 was almost flat, posting a 0.06% increase to 77.91 mmt from 77.86 mmt previously.
Container volume rose 3.95% to 5.43 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 5.23 million TEUs in 2013. PPA noted “all aspects of containerized operations went up modestly for 2014 despite the Manila port congestion and the slowdown in some areas of operations like Davao.”
Foreign container traffic rose 3.42% to 3.29 million TEUs from 3.18 million TEUs in 2013. Import boxes climbed 4.52% to 1.69 million TEUs from 1.61 million TEUs, while export boxes increased 2.27% to 1.59 million TEUs from 1.56 million TEUs.
Domestic boxes also posted an uptick of 4.78% to 2.14 million TEUs from 2.05 million TEUs.
“Coordinated efforts from various government agencies and the private sector cushioned the adverse effect of the truck ban imposed in Manila starting February 2014,” PPA general manager Atty. Juan C. Sta. Ana said in a statement.
The Manila truck ban was temporarily lifted in September.
“Despite the ban, the volume of containers in the Manila ports, composed of the Manila South Harbor and the Manila International Container Terminal, still managed to post a modest increase,” Sta. Ana added.
During the February 11 port tour organized by Transport Events for delegates of the 8th Philippine Ports and Shipping Conference, port operators said MICT volume for 2014 reached 1.8 million TEUs while Manila South Harbor handled about 922,000 TEUs. Both terminals posted similar volumes in 2013.
MICT has an annual capacity of 2.5 million TEUs, while Manila South Harbor can handle 1.2 million TEUs per year.
Ship calls improved 1.89% to 361,431 vessels in 2014 from 354,715 vessels in 2013. Domestic ship calls increased 2.35% to 352,278 from 344,141. However, foreign ship calls sank 13.44% to 9,153 ships from 10,574.
Passenger traffic for 2014 reached 55.87 million, 4.39% higher than the previous year’s 53.52 million.
PPA said that despite competition from airlines offering budget fares, the public responded positively to the government’s domestic tourism programs encouraging sea travel, particularly leisure interisland roll-on roll-off travel to heavily promoted tourism sites such as Batangas, Boracay and Coron. – Roumina Pablo
