Manufacturers holding price hike

Industry stakeholders are aiming to agree on reasonable rates

Manufacturers are holding price increase in consideration of its impact to consumers, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said Wedmesday.

“They are still considering the sentiments of the consumers who will suffer if price adjustments will be made,” PCCI president George Barcelon said.

Barcelon also said exporters have yet to determine how much reduction in shipping cost will be helpful to them.

“They are still monitoring developments in the international market with regards to the prices of crude oil, and other raw material such as steel and copper,” Barcelon said.

“Prices of fuel products has dropped in the last two weeks, also copper and steel.”

Exporters are now shouldering a 250 percent increase in logistics cost.

The PCCI head said they are about to meet Trade Secretary Fred Pascual next week to discuss what the government can do to help the sector.

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has started talks with concerned government agencies, shipping line operators, and other industry stakeholders to review statutory and regulatory costs in compliance with the order of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista last week to slash shipping and travel cost for the benefit of shippers and travelers.

PCCI vice president for Industry Affairs Perry Ferrer lamented that when war broke out between Ukraine and Russia in February, exporters are now shouldering a 250 percent increase in logistics cost triggered by 8 percent to 15 percent spike in fuel cost.

“Also, the pandemic is still causing us some troubles to our exports due to scarcity of containers, as the China lockdowns halted the majority of container circulation plus the reduction of ships sailing significantly impacted container movement,” Ferrer told the Daily Tribune.

Last May in an online forum, Insight Supply Chain Solutions CEO Pierre Carlo Curay said the Philippines logistics cost is highest in the ASEAN region.

Earlier, PPA OIC-general manager Manuel A. Boholano said they will discuss the efficient utilization of facilities particularly in highvolume ports like Manila, Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo.

“Our first order of business is to comply with the directive of the DoTr to lower travel and shipping costs,” Boholano said.

To date, he said the PPA continues to climb out of the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic as ports traffic increased 130 percent to 20.87 million passengers in the first five months of 2022 from only 9.07 million passengers handled in the same period in 2021.

Containerized cargo traffic also increased by 3.84 percent to 3.12 million twenty-foot equivalent units from only 3 million TEU in the same period a year ago.

Ship calls also went up 13.4 percent during the period compared to the 153,007 ship calls in 2021.

Total cargo volume, however, remains flat at 101.74 million metric tons.

“PPA is also accelerating the digitalization of its processes like the Internet-based Port Operations and Receipting for Terminals System, the e-Permit Management System, the Transport Accreditation, Permits and Pass for Ports, and interconnecting with other government agencies to facilitate the movement of cargoes and turnaround time of vessels, faster delivery of raw materials for shippers and businesses resulting in lower overheads, and quicker travel time for regular passengers and tourists,” Boholano said.

PPA is likewise bent on continuing its infrastructure modernization and improvement to further provide shippers, regular sea-going public, and tourists comfort and convenience while inside the ports.

They are still considering the sentiments of the consumers who will suffer if price adjustments will be made.

Any possible reduction in port-related costs shall be on top of the existing policies being implemented like the exemptions of students, senior citizens, differently abled Persons, uniformed personnel, and Medal of Valor Awardees and their firstdegree kin in the payment of Passenger Terminal Fees in all PPA-controlled ports.

Since its first application prior to the pandemic, the free terminal fee is equivalent to a benefit of close to a P7 million monthly average.