The volume of goods that flowed through the ports in the Philippines rose modestly in 2014, despite setbacks brought about by the lethargic performance of the main gateways in Manila.
Data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) showed that traffic in ports around the country increased by 5 percent last year, with cargo volume reaching 211.20 million metric tons (MMT) as of end-December.
The rise in volume was driven by the large export of river sand, magnetite sand, crude minerals, nickel ore, limestone ore, clinker and slag and coconut oil and copra, fruits and fish, as well as the importation of fuel, coal, grains and fertilizers.
This is relatively faster than the 2.97-percent growth posted in the same period in 2013.
In the same period under review, foreign cargo throughput grew by 7.45 percent to 133.29 MMT, wherein imports rose by 11.29 percent to 67.56 MMT, while exports inched up by 3.77 percent to 65.73 MMT.
Domestic cargo volume was almost flat at 77.91 MMT in the full-year period of 2014.
Container volume also increased by 3.95 percent to 5.43 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2014, from 5.23 million TEUs the year prior. All aspects of containerized operations went up modestly for 2014, despite the Manila port congestion and the slowdown in some areas of operations like Davao.
Foreign container traffic went up 3.42 percent to 3.29 million TEUs. Import boxes grew by 4.52 percent to 1.69 million TEUs, while export boxes inched up by 2.27 percent to 1.59 million TEUs.
Domestic boxes also increased by 4.78 percent to 2.14 million TEUs from 2.05 million TEUs in 2013.
“Coordinated efforts from various government agencies and the private sector cushioned the adverse effect of the truck ban imposed in Manila starting February 2014,” PPA General Manager Juan C. Sta. Ana explained.
The year 2014 saw the ports in Manila barging past their utilization levels due to the rapid economic expansion and the imposition of a truck ban in Manila. The regulation was lifted in September, making way for the partial decongestion of the terminals.
He added: “Despite the ban, the volume of containers in the Manila ports, composed of the Manila South Harbor and the Manila International Container Terminal, still managed to post a modest increase.”
To avoid a repeat of the monstrous congestion at the ports in the capital, the government is mulling over the prospect of constructing a mega port outside Metro Manila.
Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said this plan is currently being discussed by the government’s planning body that is chaired by President Aquino.
Sea travel rose despite popularity of budget airlines
Meanwhile, passenger traffic for 2014 reached 55.87 million, a favorable improvement of 4.39 percent over the previous year’s 53.52 million, driven by the government’s domestic tourism programs that encourage travelers to patronize the interisland roll-on, roll-off services.
Shipcalls, on the other hand, improved by 1.89 percent to 361,431 vessels in 2014, from 354,715 vessels in 2013. Domestic shipcalls also increased by 2.35 percent to 352,278 from 344,141 in 2013.
However, foreign shipcalls declined 13.44 percent, to 9,153 ships, from 10,574 vessels.