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Philippine ports handled 6.3% more cargoes from January to June this year compared to the same period last year
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In terms of containers, ports processed 3.735 million TEUs, up 1.9% in the first half
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Ports serviced 13% more vessels
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Passenger traffic saw double-digit growth of 15.8%
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Roll-on/roll-off traffic also grew 10.5%
Philippine ports handled 138.289 million metric tons (mt) of cargoes in the first half of 2024, up 6.3% from the 130.086 million mt posted in the same period last year, according to preliminary data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
Of the total, foreign cargoes accounted for 62% and the rest were domestic cargoes.
Ports under PPA jurisdiction handled 52.63 million mt of domestic cargoes from January to June this year, an increase of 6.3% from the 49.527 million mt recorded in the same period last year.
Foreign cargoes likewise improved 6.3% to 85.659 million mt from 80.559 million mt last year, as both imports and exports rose during the period.
Imports advanced 5.6% to 52.496 million mt from 49.69 million mt while exports surged 7.4% to 33.162 million mt from 30.869million mt.
Luzon ports, which handled 53% of the total, posted a 1.4% year-on-year increment to 73.37 million mt.
Mindanao ports accounted for 26% or 35.529 million mt of the total, 11.4% higher than the 31.889 million mt last year. Cargo volumes handled by Visayas ports also grew 13.8% year-on-year to 29.390 million mt.
In terms of containers, PPA ports handled 3.735 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), 1.9% higher than the 3.666 million TEUs recorded in the first half of last year. Domestic containers, which shared 35% of the total, grew 3.4% to 1.298 million TEUs from 1.255 million TEUs.
Foreign containers likewise improved 1.1% to 2.437 million TEUs from 2.411 million TEUs.
Import boxes rose 4.6% to 1.242 million TEUs from 1.187million TEUs.
Exports, on the other hand, dropped 2.4% to 1.194 million TEUs from 1.224 million TEUs.
Luzon ports, which accounted for 75% of the total container throughput, handled 2.817 million TEUs, up 2.3% from 2.753 million TEUs last year.
Visayas ports likewise handled 3% more boxes at 221,822 TEUs from 215,077 TEUs.
Mindanao ports, on the other hand, saw a slight decline to 695,643 TEUs from 697,627 TEUs.
PPA ports serviced 13% more vessels in the first half of the year, totaling 309,806 vessels from 275,131 vessels in the same period last year. Domestic shipcalls, which account for bulk of the total, increased 12.8% to 304,187 vessels while foreign shipcalls grew 1.8% to 5,619 vessels.
Passenger traffic saw double-digit growth of 15.8% to 41.479million passengers from 35.83 million passengers in the first half of last year. Of the total, 74,849 were cruise passengers, 59% higher than the 47,112 cruise passengers serviced last year.
Roll-on/roll-off traffic also grew 10.5% to 5.830 million from 5.276 million.
PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago earlier said they are eyeing a 10%-13% year-on-year growth in cargo volumes and 30%-33% higher passenger traffic in 2024.
READ: PPA eyes 10-13% growth in cargo for 2024
PPA ports in 2023 handled 272.46 million mt of cargoes and 73.637 million passengers. – Roumina Pablo
