Cargo volume handled by Philippine ports grew 6.92% from January to September 2014 to 161.924 million metric tons from 151.44 mmt in the same 2013 period, data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) showed.
Container traffic increased 8.4% to 3.796 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) from 3.5 million for the same period in review.
Of the total container volume, foreign cargoes accounted for 58.5% with 2.222 million TEUs, 0.22% higher than the previous 2.217 million TEUs.
Domestic cargoes, which contributed 41.5% to the total with 1.574 million TEUs, were up 22.6% from 1.284 million TEUs.
Container traffic at the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) dipped 5.4% to 1.331 million TEUs from 1.407 million.
Manila South Harbor’s box traffic slumped 26.9% to 533,442 TEUs from 729,324 TEUs.
The country’s main domestic port North Harbor, on the other hand, handled more boxes with 753,093 TEUs, up 16.11% from 648,604 TEUs.
The Port Management Office (PMO) of Batangas saw a whopping 355.27% increase in volume in the first nine months of 2014, recording 69,019 TEUs from 15,160 TEUs. Batangas posted its biggest traffic during the third quarter of 2014, with 42,799 TEUs from only 9,713 TEUs in the first quarter of 2014.
Effects of Manila port congestion
PortCalls sources attributed the drop in volumes at MICT and South Harbor to the Manila port congestion, which has compelled some vessels to skip the two international ports and head for alternative terminals such as Batangas and Subic, in turn boosting these ports’ volumes.
Contributing a sizeable portion to the total container traffic for the first three quarters was PMO Davao with 480,794 TEUs, up 21.88% from 394,477 TEUs.
PMO Cagayan De Oro likewise saw higher volume with 154,293 TEUs, 11.2% more than the previous 138,752 TEUs, while another big contributor, PMO General Santos, recorded bigger volumes of 11.05% with 139,704 TEUs from 125,797 TEUs.
Ship calls from January to September 2014 slightly increased 0.22% to 269,411 from 268,824 in 2013.
More passengers also traveled by sea with 41.4 million recorded in the first three quarters, 3.24% higher from 40.1 million. – Roumina Pablo
