Cargo volume at the Port of Cebu grew 54.37% to 3.683 million metric tons for the month of January from 2.386 million mt in January 2013.
Data from the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) showed that of the total cargo volume, domestic shipments accounted for 71.47% or 2.632 million mt, 55.03% higher than the 1.698 million mt in January last year.
Foreign cargoes, which contributed 28.53% of the total, increased 52.73% to 1.051 million mt from 687,845.54 mt.
Container traffic for the first month of the year also improved 17.48% to 57,028 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) from 48,543 TEUs in the same period last year.
Of the total container throughput, 63.48% or 36,146.75 TEUs were domestic containers, up 26.9% from 28,597.5 TEUs in January 2012.
Foreign containers increased 4.6% to 20,861.25 TEUs from 19,945.5 TEUs or 36.6% of the total.
Shipping traffic also grew 30.48% with 11,786 of different kinds of vessels in January versus the 9,033 in the same period last year.
Of the total number of container vessels that called at Cebu Port, 94 were domestic ships and 24 foreign.
More passengers also used the Visayan hub with 1.697 million people embarking in January, 14.97% higher than the 1.476 million in January 2013.
On another note, the CPA is planning to transfer Cebu Port’s container terminal to Tayud, Consolacion, Cebu to decongest the existing wharf.
The project has been approved by the Cebu Port Commission, backed by the Department of Transportation and Communications, and is now looking for overseas development assistance funding.
Groundbreaking is expected to take place before the term of President Benigno Aquino III expires on 2016.–– Roumina M. Pablo
