The Aduana Business Club, Inc. (ABCI) is asking shipping lines to direct the return of empty containers to container yards (CYs) in nearby provinces instead of in Metro Manila where depots are full and returning empty containers to Manila’s international terminals difficult.
In a press conference on December 21, ABCI said truckers have been having difficulty returning empty containers for a couple of months now, with waiting time ranging from days to even weeks. The group said truckers are either diverted to another CY or have to join long queues to be accommodated by depots in Metro Manila.
The group also noted difficulty in returning empty containers to Manila South Harbor and Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), claiming that both terminals are already congested and lacking space for empty returns. The group produced a December 18 advisory from a shipping line stating there is “port congestion due to high yard utilization at both ports.”
ABCI also claimed that Manila South Harbor only accepts empty containers for double transaction, while MICT is temporarily not accepting empty containers.
With these difficulties, the group is suggesting that shipping lines direct the empty containers to CYs in Bulacan, Cavite, and Laguna, where there is still space.
A trucker during the press conference said it only took his truck less than 30 minutes to get processed in a Laguna off-dock depot, paying only P120 compared with the alleged grease money truckers needed to pay to CYs in Metro Manila to get their empty container deliveries accommodated.
ABCI also suggests CYs be relocated outside Metro Manila where space is bigger, road traffic is less severe, and trucks are less likely to be towed while queuing. The group noted that truckers prefer predictability in returning empty containers, meaning no diversion and queuing, even if they have to go to CYs farther away.
Container Depot Alliance of the Philippines director Carl Fontanilla, in a text message to PortCalls, confirmed that CYs in Metro Manila are full “due to increase in movement of imports such that on-dock space for empty containers for repo (repositioning) is very limited.”
“There’s a surge in inbound of containers that got stuck at the Asian hubs (Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Singapore) during the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) conference,” he said, referring to the 31st ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings hosted by the Philippines in November. At the time, sea operations along Manila Bay were barred from all types of vessels from November 5 until November 16, so no vessel of any kind was allowed to pass through the covered areas for the entire 12 days.
Fontanilla noted, however, that the high utilization of Metro Manila CYs is temporary, which is why some depots outside Metro Manila such as in Cavite and Bulacan have been opened to accommodate the surge.
He said the slowdown of inbound containers to the country will start in January until after the Chinese New Year “so inventory (of CYs) should also start to go down.”
Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) general manager Atty. Jay Daniel Santiago, in an interview on December 20, said they are not expecting port congestion this month as shipments for the holidays have already been delivered months before. He noted that utilization and efficiency of ports, particularly in Manila, are good, and that both ports are prepared for the influx of shipments in time for the Chinese New Year.
PPA, in a text message to PortCalls on December 22, said combined utilization at Manila South Harbor and MICT was 60%.
Port operator Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI), in a text message to PortCalls, said Manila South Harbor’s yard utilization has been improving and going down while “truck flow has remained efficient.” It noted that yard utilization was at 76% and only one vessel as of December 22 was in queue, being off-window for its berthing schedule.
ATI, in a December 5 statement to PortCalls, said the high utilization at Manila South Harbor was due to the long holidays in November, including the ASEAN conference. Some vessels were off-schedule reportedly due to delays at Chinese ports.
ATI denied it is only accepting empty containers for double transaction. It noted that its Sta. Mesa, Manila facility has been complementing operations in South Harbor, “accepting empties for easier flow of trucks into the terminal.”
As of press time PortCalls was still waiting for the responses of MICT port operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. and the Association of International Shipping Lines. – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of tawatchai at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
