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Container traffic at Philippine ports grew 2.8% year-on-year to 4.300 million twenty-foot equivalent units in the first half of 2026 with both domestic and foreign containers recording increases
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Domestic containers improved 4.2% to 1.497 million TEUs while foreign containers went up 2.1% to 2.803 million TEUs
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Luzon ports had the biggest share to total with 76.3% or 3.281 million TEUs
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Among the ports, Manila International Container Terminal contributed the biggest share of 1.55 million TEUs or 36% of the total
Container traffic at Philippine ports grew 2.8% year-on-year in the first half of 2026 with both domestic and foreign containers recording increases, according to data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
Ports under PPA jurisdiction handled 4.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from January to June 2026, up from 4.182 million TEUs in the same period last year.
Domestic containers, which shared 34.8% of the total, improved 4.2% to 1.497 million TEUs from 1.436 million TEUs.
Foreign containers, which accounted for the bigger share of 65.2% of the total, likewise rose 2.1% to 2.803 million TEUs from 2.746 million TEUs, as both import and export containers posted higher volumes.
Imports grew 3.6% to 1.428 million TEUs from 1.379 million TEUs while exports inched up 0.6% to 1.375 million TEUs from 1.367 million TEUs.
READ: Foreign shipments drive PH ports’ cargo volume up by 5% in Q1
Luzon ports had the biggest share to total with 76.3% or 3.281 million TEUs, a 2.4% growth from the 3.204 million TEUs posted in the first half of last year.
Ports in Mindanao also recorded a 3% increase to 778,699.75 TEUs from 756,109 TEUs while Visayas ports posted an 8.6% increase to 240,633.50 TEUs from 221,527 TEUs.
Amongst the ports, Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) contributed the biggest share of 1.55 million TEUs or 36% of the total. This figure was also 0.8% higher than the 1.537 million TEUs recorded in the first half of 2025.
Following MICT was baseport South Harbor, which posted 742,514 TEUs or 17% of the total and a 3.1% increase from the 720,174 TEUs handled last year.
Baseport North Harbor came next with 15.9% or 685,339 TEUs, 1.9% up from 672,275 TEUs last year.
Baseport Batangas handled 166,045 TEUs, 3.9% of the total and a 3.7% increment from the 160,190 TEUs it recorded last year.
Baseport Cagayan de Oro likewise saw a 7% increase to 152,931 TEUs from 142,896 TEUs last year.
Amongst the private ports, those under the PPA Port Management Office of Davao, which includes, among others, Davao International Container Terminal, recorded the biggest volume of 407,083 TEUs, 5.5% higher than the 385,740 TEUs last year.
Cargo volume
Aside from container traffic, cargo volume handled at ports under PPA jurisdiction also grew in the first half of the year by 3.2% to 154.033 million metric tons, while roll-on/roll-off traffic increased 4.9% to 6.876 million units (vehicles). Passenger traffic, however, dropped slightly to 45.670 million while ship calls dipped 3.2% to 331,005 vessels.
For 2026, PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago earlier said PPA’s outlook “in so far as economic indicators are concerned, we’re very bullish” that volumes will continue to increase.— Roumina Pablo
