Container traffic handled by Philippine ports went up 53% in the first 11 months of 2017 following robust trade and heightened domestic demand, according to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
Latest data from the ports authority showed that total container traffic from January to November reached 9.084 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 5.940 million TEUs in the same 2016 period.
Foreign container traffic registered a 23.25% increase to 4.361 million TEUs from 3.538 million TEUs. Export shipments grew 37% while imports rose 10%, PPA said.
Total cargo volume inched up 0.81% for the 11-month period to 227.312 million metric tons (mmt) from 225.495 mmt year-on-year. Domestic traffic rose 2.3% while foreign cargoes registered flat growth.
Passenger traffic advanced by 4.31% to 64.874 million passengers from 62.192 million passengers for the same period under in the first 11 months of 2016.
“The positive outcome in traffic was propelled heavily by the continued reliance by the sea-traveling public on Ro-Ro (roll-on/roll-off) vessels, fast crafts, and motorized bancas as primary mode of transportation for domestic inter-island connectivity,” PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago said.
“In addition, the positive stream in passenger traffic serviced at the ports may have also been the result of favorable response of the public to the government’s domestic eco-tourism programs encouraging leisure inter-island Ro-Ro travel to tourist destinations such as Siargao, Puerto Galera, Bohol, Coron, El Nido, and other emerging tourism sites,” Santiago said.
Shipcalls likewise increased by 3.27% to 410,384 from 397,397 calls in 2016 with domestic shipcalls posting a 3.33% increase to 398,770 calls and foreign shipcalls rising by 1.23% to 11,615 shipcalls.
