Cargo volume handled by Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) rose 18.3% in the first half of 2016 to 102,751 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 86,816 TEUs in the same period last year.
Data from MCT regulator Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) showed that foreign cargoes, which accounted for 66% of the total cargo volume, increased 25% to 67,377 TEUs in the first six months of 2016 from 54,024 TEUs in the same period in 2015.
Domestic shipments, which contributed 34% of the total, reached 35,375 TEUs, or 8% higher than last year’s volume of 32,792 TEUs, the investment promotion agency said.
Ship calls likewise improved 23% to 244 vessels in January-June 2016 from 198 ships in the same period last year. Foreign vessel calls surged 65% to 122 from the previous year’s 74. Domestic ship calls, on the other hand, declined 2% to 122 from 124.
PIA attributed the increase in vessel calls to the start of regular weekly vessel calls by SITC from July 2015; addition by MCC Transport of one vessel call per week starting January 2016; and the launch of ship calls at MCT by Marianas Express and CMA CGM Philippines in June 2016.
International shipping line APL is also a regular caller of MCT, while regular domestic callers include NMC Container Lines, Inc., Lorenzo Shipping Corp., and MCC Philippines.
MCT is located at the Phividec Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental, which is managed, supervised, and administered by PIA. – Roumina Pablo
