Manila ports ready for holiday season cargo

MANILA, Philippines — Ports in Manila are ready to handle cargoes coming in for the Christmas season, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said.

In a statement, PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago said productivity of the three Manila Ports such as the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), the Manila South Harbor (MSH) and the Manila North Port (MNP) continue to be strong and so, no slowdown is expected even with the Christmas rush.

“As of the moment, the combined yard utilization at the two international Manila ports MICT and MSH is at 60.12 percent or about 20 percent below the optimum level of 80 percent,” he said.

The 60.12 percent utilization rate means 48,900 containers are inside the terminal, while 32,600 container slots remain vacant.

Santiago said both terminals also posted at least 10 percent increase in productivity as of end-September, indicating fully functional ports.

Meanwhile, the premier domestic terminal MNP, has a yard utilization rate of 43.40 percent, allowing the port to handle the anticipated increase in demand for the holiday season.

“With a combined average quay crane productivity of the three terminals at 26 moves per hour per crane, barring any major development, we can guarantee congestion-free Manila ports at any given time,” Santiago said.

With tight security measures expected to be implemented during the meeting of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next month, the PPA is advising all cargo owners to plan ahead the withdrawal and deposit of their cargoes to and from the ports to reduce commercial delays.

While the PPA has asked cargo owners to make preparations, it does not expect the tight security measures to be implemented to lead to congestion at the ports.

The PPA also said the decision of the Bureau of Customs to temporarily shut down its green lane operations, as well as to subject majority of imported cargoes to inspection are likewise not expected to disrupt the flow of goods to and from the terminals.