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CARGO
volume handled in facilities owned and operated by the
Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) grew 1.3 percent during
the first three months of the year.
There
are, however, signs that cargo traffic slowed down in
the months after the first quarter of the year.
Latest
data show that cargo volume in the more than 100 ports
of the PPA posted a modest increase of 1.3 percent to
32.54 million metric tons (MMT) from 32.12 MMT a year
earlier.
Domestic
cargo volume dropped 4 percent 16.32 MMT, from 17.03 MMT
in the same period last year. The PPA declines were
evident in cargoes handled in the ports of Manila,
Batangas Cagayan de Oro and Davao.
The
ports authority said that export and import shipments
posted positive growth rates of 6 percent and 9 percent,
respectively.
In the
ports of Iloilo and San Fernando, there were spikes in
the volume of foreign cargoes handled by as much as 925
percent and 420 percent, respectively.
“[The
Port Management Office, or PMO, in] Iloilo handled a
huge volume of coal and scrap metal exportation in
private and government ports under it… PMO San Fernando
recorded an extraordinary increase in the importation of
coal at the Port of Aparri, and export of limestone,
chrome and ore and nickel at the Sta. Cruz Pier,” the
PPA said in its report.
The
ports of Legazpi, Tacloban, Pulupandan, Cagayan de Oro
and General Santos also posted significant increases in
foreign cargoes such as rice, coconut oil and marine
products, as well as fertilizer, copra, cement, frozen
fish and vegetables, the ports authority said.
Vessel
traffic also rose 3.1 percent during the first quarter
of the year from a year earlier. Calls made by domestic
and foreign ships rose by 3 percent and 11 percent,
respectively, the PPA said.
Container traffic, on the other hand, grew by more than
6 percent to 945,966 twenty-foot equivalent units, or
TEUs, from last year’s 887,096 TEUs. The Port of
Manila—the Manila International Container Terminal and
Manila South Harbor—handled more than half of the total
volume.
Passenger traffic, meanwhile, rose to 9.83 million
people, or 510,174 individuals more compared with the
9.35 million in the same period last year.
As there
are only a handful of cruise lines that visit the
country, a chunk of the numbers are from the domestic
vessels, and only the ports in Zamboanga received
foreign passengers that reached 4,776. |
