Cebu port cargo volume drops 11% in first half

CEBU, Philippines - Cargo volume at the Cebu port registered an 11 percent drop in the first half of 2016, according to data from the Cebu Port Authority.

The CPA data obtained by The FREEMAN showed that cargo throughput at the Cebu port stood at 18.389 million metric tons in the first semester of 2016, down 11.33 percent from 20.625 mmt in the same period last year.

Domestic cargoes, which accounted more than 75 percent of the total, reached 14.717 mmt in the January-June period, down 7 percent from 15.76 mmt last year.

Foreign cargoes also saw a 32 percent drop in the six-month period to 3.672 mmt from 4.865 mmt last year.

Furthermore, container traffic at the Cebu port saw a 9 percent increase in the first semester to 436,194 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 401,099 TEUs in the same period in 2015.

Domestic boxes accounted for more than half of container traffic with 234,149 TEUs, up 2 percent from last year's 229,842 TEUs.

Foreign boxes also increased to 202,045 TEUs, registering an 18 percent growth from 171,256 TEUs last year.

Meanwhile, ship calls also increased to 65,446 vessels in the first six months of 2016, up 11 percent from 58,854 vessels last year.

Domestic calls reached 64,859, up 15 percent from 56,355 while foreign calls were up 18 percent to 587 from 499 last year.

On the other hand, passenger traffic also experienced a 13 percent rise in the first half to 10.892 million passengers from 9.66 million passengers in the same comparable period last year.

Meanwhile, the new container port project in Cebu is set for deliberation by the National Economic and Development Authority's Investment Coordination Committee before it gets the President's approval.

The deliberation was moved to Sept. 1 instead of within this month, said NEDA Regional Head Efren Carreon.

NEDA-ICC is going to deliberate on the financial aspect of the project, among other issues.

Only then the project can start its detailed engineering study which could take about six months to be completed, CPA General Manager Edmund Tan earlier said.

Afterwards, the project can already start construction, which is expected to take three years.

The new container port is geared towards meeting the demands of the dynamic and growing economy of Cebu and of the region.

It is expected to provide a long-term solution to the congestion at the existing Cebu International Port due to increasing volume and the shallow water depth of its container berths. (FREEMAN)