PPA cargo volume up just 2% in 7 months

Despite sluggish domestic and foreign trade, local cargo volume posted a modest hike in the first seven months of the year.

Philippine cargo traffic totaled 147.271 million metric tons (MMT) from January to July, 2018, up 2% versus the same period last year, according to the latest data of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).

Foreign cargo throughput totaled 87.639 MMT, 1.64% higher than the comparative period. Import volume was 53.654 MMT while export traffic was 33.985 MMT. Domestic volume, on the other hand, reached 59.631 MMT or 2.48% versus the same period in 2017.

While cargo volume was “a bit slow” for the period in review, PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago remains upbeat that volume will pick-up towards the latter part of the year.

“Despite the decrease in the volume of export cargo by 0.98%, we were still able to post positive deviation in the overall cargo traffic,” he stressed.

Furthermore, “We are still on target of hitting our forecast of a modest cargo volume hike for 2018 of high single-digit to low double-digit growth.”

Meanwhile, container traffic increased by 9% to 4.309 million twentyfoot equivalent units (TEUs) from 3.953 million TEUs last year due to the recorded uptick in the domestic trade.

Domestic boxes handled at the ports posted 10.37% to 1.755 million TEUs while foreign boxes registered an increase of 8.07% to 2.553 million TEUs. Import volume contributed 1.290 million TEUs, up 7.44% and export boxes, 1.263 million TEUs, up 8.71%.

Passenger volume continues to expand as of July as it increased by 6.63% to 47.592 million passengers versus the 44.631 million passengers that passed through the country’s ports in 2017.

Passengers continued to rely on Ro-Ro vessels, fastcraft and motorized bancas as primary mode of transportation for domestic interisland travel, according to Santiago.

The ports of Bohol, Mindoro, Negros Oriental/Siquijor, Bredco/ Bacolod and Surigao registered increases, in particular.

In addition, the government’s efforts toward cruise tourism likewise generated positive results as cruise passenger traffic recorded during the period totaled 229,388 or an increase of 216%. The increases were recorded at the ports of Surigao, South Harbor, Panay/Guimaras, Zamboanga and Batangas.

Ship calls during the period also improved by 5.05% to 273,827 vessels from 260,669 vessels due to increase in domestic ship calls by 5.33%.

Meanwhile, yard utilization at the country’s major gateway, the Manila ports — composed of the Manila International Container Terminal, the Manila South Harbor and the Manila North Port, remain healthy with a combined utilization rate of 67%.

Combined berth occupancy rate is likewise healthy at an average of 59% while Quay crane productivity is at 24 moves an hour per crane.

“The silver lining in this situation is that our ports, particularly the Manila Ports, remain clog-free and ready to accept the influx of ‘holiday’ cargoes, which we expect to arrive in the next couple of weeks,” Santiago concluded.