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Cargoes handled by Cebu ports grew 5.1% to 57.336 million metric tons in the first nine months of the year, fueled by higher domestic cargoes, preliminary data from Cebu Port Authority showed
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Container volumes likewise grew 2.4% to 742,673 TEUs while rolling cargoes improved 11% to 1.494 million units
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Passenger traffic increased 2.7% to 15.456 million while ship calls grew 3.4% to 113,983 vessels
Cargoes handled by Cebu ports grew 5.1% in the first nine months of the year, fueled by higher domestic cargoes, preliminary data from the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) showed.
From January to September 2025, ports under the jurisdiction of CPA recorded 57.336 million metric tons (mt), 5.1% up from 54.553 million mt in the same period last year.
Domestic cargoes, which accounted for 81.3% of the total, increased 7.6% to 46.631 million mt from 43.354 million mt last year.
Foreign cargoes, on the other hand, dropped 4.4% to 10.705 million mt from 11.199 million mt as both imports and exports recorded declines.
Imports for the first nine months of the year fell 4.4% year-on-year to 9.715 million mt while exports shrank 4.9% year-on-year to 989,497 mt.
Argao subport contributed the biggest volume to the total, accounting for 21.2% or 12.14 million mt. It was followed by the subport of Toledo with 9.174 million mt or 16% share.
In terms of containers, Cebu ports handled 742,673 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from January to September this year, up 2.5% from the 724,618 TEUs posted in the same period in 2024, driven by higher foreign containers.
Domestic containers, which shared 48.3% of the total containers, slightly fell by 0.7% to 358,443 TEUs this year from 360,834 TEUs last year.
Domestic transshipments likewise dropped 36.6% to 7,144 TEUs from 11,264 TEUs.
Foreign containers, meanwhile, grew 7% to 377,086 TEUs from 352,520 TEUs. Import containers rose 2.2% year-on-year to 176,014 TEUs while exports expanded 11.6% year-on-year to 201,072 TEUs.
Of the total containers in the first nine months, Pier 1 contributed the biggest volume of 265,108 TEUs, followed closely by Cebu International Port’s (CIP) 236,755 TEUs.
Rolling cargoes also improved 11% to 1.494 million units from 1.345 million units last year. This year, Pier 1 also handled 66 foreign imports, which included vehicles and heavy equipment, while no foreign imports were recorded in the first nine months of 2024.
On passenger traffic, Cebu ports handled 15.456 million from January to September 2025, up 2.7% from the 15.050 million in the same period lasty year.
Ship calls to Cebu ports likewise increased 3.4% to 113,983 vessels from 110,281 last year. Domestic ship calls, which account for majority of the total, grew 3.3% to 113,145 vessels while foreign ship calls climbed up 6.6% to 838 vessels.
READ: Cebu ports’ cargo volume up 4.1% in first half
CPA’s jurisdiction is composed of the Cebu baseport and its subports that are strategically located in different points of Cebu. Cebu baseport is composed of CIP and the domestic zone, while subports include the ports of Mandaue, Danao, Sta. Fe, Toledo and Argao.
A new port, the New Cebu International Container Port (NCICP), meanwhile, will be constructed in Tayug, Consolacion, some eight kilometers from the Cebu base port. Once operational, NCICP will handle international cargo operations while the Cebu baseport will service domestic and bulk and breakbulk shipments.
The new international terminal is seen as the long-term solution to growing volumes handled at CIP, which currently handles foreign cargoes at Cebu baseport.– Roumina Pablo
