Container traffic at Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) grew 20% to 212,678 twenty-foot equivalent units (in 2016 from 177,217 TEUs in 2015, data from the Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) showed.
Of the total 2016 volume, foreign boxes accounted for 65.8% or 140,048 TEUs. This is 27% higher than the 110,172 TEUs handled in 2015. The volume of export boxes rose 29.5% last year to 72,013 TEUs from 55,592 TEUs in the preceding year, while imports grew 23% to 66,907 TEUs from 54,580 TEUs.
For the first time, PIA registered the arrival of foreign transhipments, which reached 1,128 TEUs last year. No comparable data was provided.
PIA said the bulk of export commodities at MCT are sawn lumber, fresh and processed fruits (such as banana, pineapple and coconuts), oleo chemical and related products, activated carbon, and raw rubber. Imports, on the other hand, include raw materials, machinery and transport equipment and spare parts, and general cargo such as diapers, home implements, and consumables.
The authority noted that 100% of foreign cargo volume passes through MCT, except foreign relay cargo via domestic vessels at the Cagayan de Oro base port.
Domestic traffic, which contributed 34.2% of the total volume at MCT, grew 8.3% in 2016 to 72,630 TEUs from 67,046 TEUs in 2015. Outbound boxes rose slightly to 33,656 TEUs, 1.3% higher than 33,146 TEUs in 2015, while inbound domestic traffic jumped 15% to 38,974 TEUs from 33,900 TEUs.
The increase was in spite of MCT sharing the volume of domestic shipments with shipping lines calling at the Cagayan de Oro base port.
Ship calls in 2016 for the Northern Mindanao hub increased to 526, or 26.14% higher than the 417 ship calls recorded in 2015.
Foreign ship calls grew 56% last year to 270 from 173 in 2015, while domestic ship calls slightly went up 5% to 256 from 244.
PIA said the rise in foreign ship calls was due to MCC Transport Singapore’s doubling its call per week to two in 2016. Liner CMA CGM also conducted four test calls from June to September 2016. Mariana Express likewise started regular calls to MCT in June 2016 with one vessel per week. Other regular callers are APL and Shandong International Transport Corporation.
Domestic shipping lines regularly calling MCT are NMC Container Lines, Inc., Lorenzo Shipping Corp., and MCC Transport-Philippines.
MCT is operated and managed by Mindanao International Container Terminal Services, Inc, a subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. The terminal is located at the Phividec Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental, an economic zone managed, supervised, and administered by PIA. – Roumina Pablo
