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Cargo, container and passenger volumes at Philippine ports all grew in 2024
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Ports under Philippine Ports Authority jurisdiction handled 6.26% more cargoes in 2024 at 289.518 million metric tons, also exceeding the 288.56 million mt target
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Container traffic rose 4.2% to 7.826 million TEUs
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Roll-on/roll-off traffic expanded 4.51% to 11.271 million units
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Passenger traffic hit the 78 million target with 78.743 million
Cargo, container and passenger volumes at Philippine ports all grew in 2024, according to data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
Ports under PPA jurisdiction handled 289.518 million metric tons (mt) in 2024, up 6.26% from 272.462 million mt in 2023, and exceeding PPA’s 2024 full-year target volume of 288.56 million mt.
READ: PPA optimistic 2024 targets will be surpassed
Of the total, foreign cargoes accounted for 63.8% and domestic cargoes, 36.2%.
Domestic cargo volume grew 5.2% year-on-year to 104.678 million mt while foreign cargo volume rose 6.9% year-on-year to 184.84 million mt.
Both imports and exports registered increases last year, with imports 6.9% higher at 108.558 million mt, and exports up 6.8% to 76.282 million mt.
By region, Luzon ports, which accounted for 51.5% of the total, saw a 2.7% growth to 149.074 million mt.
Visayas ports handled 7.4% more cargoes with 56.482 million mt while Mindanao ports recorded double-digit growth of 12.3% to 83.962 million mt.
In terms of containers, PPA ports handled 7.826 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2024, 4.2% higher than the 7.508 million TEUs recorded in 2023.
Domestic containers climbed 4.9% to 2.694 million TEUs while foreign containers rose 3.9% to 5.131 million TEUs.
Import containers improved 6% to 2.609 million TEUs while export containers grew 1.8% to 2.522 million TEUs.
All regions likewise recorded higher container throughput last year. Luzon ports handled 5.935 million TEUs, up 4.9% year-on-year, while Visayas ports saw a 3.4% increase to 449,008 TEUs. Mindanao ports likewise posted a 1.7% increment to 1.441 million TEUs.
Roll-on/roll-off traffic in 2024 advanced 4.51% to 11.271 million units from 10.785 million units in 2023.
Ship calls to PPA ports increased 10.5% to 621,807 vessels in 2024 as both domestic and international ship calls grew.
Domestic ship calls rose 10.7% to 610,528 vessels while foreign ship calls inched up 1.2% to 11,279.
PPA ports also hit the target 78 million passenger traffic for 2024. PPA ports last year handled 78.743 million passengers, 6.9% higher than the 73.637 million passengers recorded in 2023.
For this year, PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago earlier said they target to handle 301.47 million mt cargoes and 85.41 million passengers. – Roumina Pablo
