Manila ports to handle higher volume

MANILA, Philippines - The government expects Manila’s ports to be able to handle increased transactions this year given measures that have been put in place to address congestion.

“I think that during the peak season, we will see an increase (in transactions) but I don’t think we’ll see the same level of problems last year even with a higher volume,” Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo told reporters.

Domingo said various measures have been undertaken to improve the condition at the ports.

“The challenge is every year, our transactions are rising so the number of containers that will be processed through the ports will increase again. But there are a number of measures that have been implemented,” he said.

Among the measures undertaken is to shorten the period for re-exporting free empty foreign containers to 90 days from 150 days.

The enhanced truck ban hours and routes are also seen to have helped improve the flow of cargo at the ports.

“So, hopefully, these things will alleviate it. Also, we’ve seen improvement in port operations…They are able to process faster,” Domingo said.

Malacañang announced last week that Manila’s port congestion has been resolved due to measures implemented both by the government and the private sector.

Secretary to the Cabinet Jose Rene Almendras said in a statement that while there was a time that the ports and all the container yards were flooded with empty containers, this is no longer the situation as of the end of last month.

“Since November 2014, more cargo has been moved at a faster rate than prior to the congestion. By February 2015, the benefits of a fully-decongested port is in place,” he said.

He also said both the International Container Terminal Services Inc. and Asian Terminals Inc. have shown improved efficiency with the present utilization rates at 79 to 84 percent from a high of 105 percent during the height of the truck ban in May last year.

Despite the Palace’s declaration that the congestion has been resolved, the Joint Foreign Chambers said last week they are cautious to endorse that the problem is over.

“The reason for that is we are now in the low season. Transportation costs have been going up. Trucking costs have been going up. Productivity however, is still low. We have to wait until the second-half of the year,” European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines president Michael Raeuber said during the Arangkada forum last week.

Manila’s ports saw a pileup of containers following the imposition of a truck ban by the City Government of Manila in February last year, affecting both exports and imports.