Government allays concerns of port congestion on Christmas

MANILA, Philippines - This coming Christmas season when the volume of imported goods naturally increases, the government assured the public there would be no more congestion at the ports of Manila that slowed down trade last year.

Some big business firms in the country indicated receiving reports of a possible recurrence of the 2014 port congestion starting August or September as shipments start to surge for the holiday season.

Port regulator Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), however, said the two international ports in Manila have reached optimum ideal capacity that makes them ready for the expected increase in activity starting the Christmas and New Year festivities until the national elections next year.

In a statement, the PPA said the Manila South Harbor and Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) are operating even better prior to the pre-port congestion level in February 2014.

PPA general manager Juan Sta. Ana said the two Manila ports are ready to handle the rise in cargo volume in the coming months.

Yard utilization at South Harbor and MICT is now at 55 percent to 59 percent, or about 44,000 to 48,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), according to Sta. Ana.

He added port productivity has gone up, resulting in faster turnaround time for cargoes and vessels to and from the port.

Operations in the Port of Manila was even better with the MICT utilization down to 51 percent.

The easing in the situation at the ports came despite volume in the Port of Manila posting double-digit growth. Port operators have also taken steps to prevent backlogs at the ports. The MICT engaged 1 Stop of Australia to implement TABS or Terminal Appointment Booking System, which has targeted September for the system’s first run. The pullout of containers had also been stepped up as a result of a collaboration among consignees, the Bureau of Customs (BOC), and the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI). Less storage resulted in more yard space at the ports.

The daytime truck ban enforced by the Manila city government in February 2014 to supposedly improve traffic created massive backlogs in the movement of cargoes in the ports.

Sta. Ana said the government, terminal operators and stakeholders have set up measures to prepare the two ports for the coming peak season.

“While we anticipate some glitches, we can easily address it particularly now that we have almost zero vessels waiting at anchorage and the number of cargoes coming out of our gates has been steady,” Sta. Ana said.

In the first four months of 2015, total cargo volume handled by PPA ports reached 66.6 million metric tons (mmt), 6.334 percent higher than the 62.63 mmt posted in the same period last year. Domestic cargoes registered a 6.87 percent hike to 27.75 mmt from 25.97 mmt last year. Foreign cargo inched up 5.97 percent to 38.85 mmt from 36.66 mmt a year ago. Imports rose 7.69 percent to 22.21 mmt from 20.63 mmt in 2014, while exports increased 3.75 percent to 16.63 mmt compared to 16.03 mmt posted in 2014.