Philippine cargo throughput rose 6.33% to 162.24 million metric tons (mmt) in the first eleven months of 2011 from 152.58 mmt year-on-year, according to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
Foreign cargo volume from January to November reached 95.55 mmt, up 7.28% from 89.07 mmt of the previous year. Import cargoes accounted for 48.83 mmt, a 3% slide from 50.36 mmt while export cargoes jumped 20.69% to 46.71 mmt from 38.71 mmt in 2010.
Domestic cargo volume totaled 66.68 mmt, 5% higher than the previous year’s 63.50 mmt.
Significant volume increases were recorded in the ports of Puerto Princesa, Dapitan, Surigao and Nasipit, according to PPA. Surigao accounted for the biggest share or 12.99% of the total domestic throughput although Puerto Princesa saw the highest growth rate at 58.83%.
Ports that registered declines in throughput included Iligan — which suffered the biggest setback with a 23.21% drop — South Harbor, Zamboanga, Iloilo, Tacloban, and Legazpi.
Containerized cargo grew 12.05% to 4.55 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from January to November 2011 from 4.064 million TEUs in the same period of the previous year.
Domestic containerized cargo advanced 21.34% from 1.45 million TEUs to 1.76 million TEUs while foreign boxed cargoes increased 6.87% from 2.61 million TEUs to 2.78 million TEUs.
Container imports posted a 4.59% improvement to 1.37 million TEUs from 1.31 million TEUs and export boxes a 9.2% increase to 1.41 million TEUs from 1.29 million TEUs year-on-year.
North Harbor led all other ports in domestic container throughput, handling 701,241 TEUs. The Manila International Container Terminal topped foreign box throughput with 1.49 million TEUs followed by South Harbor with 792,499 TEUs.
Passenger volume for the period in review reached 44.71 million, down 5.91%. Thirteen ports recorded declines in passenger traffic due mainly to travelers’ preference for air instead of water transport, stoppage of operations of some ferry vessels, and cancellation of trips due to rough seas brought about by inclement weather.
Shipcalls slipped 1.80% from 315,225 to 309,542. Domestic vessel calls dropped 1.92% while foreign vessels went up 1.79%. Significant decreases in shipcalls were posted in the ports of Surigao, Ormoc, Limay and Legazpi.
Photo courtesy of International Container Terminal Services, Inc
