Manila, Batangas port operations remain optimal

MANILA, Philippines — Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) said its Manila and Batangas gateway ports are operating at optimum level and continue to facilitate the flow of goods amid the Luzon-wide lockdown.

Berth and yard operations at Manila South Harbor have remained steady, with yard utilization at an optimum level of around 70 percent a week after the Lenten break.

At the Batangas Container Terminal, ATI said yard utilization remained its usual 50 percent, with manufacturers and industrial locators, mostly based in Calabarzon, pulling out cargoes in a regular and timely manner.

ATI attributed the ports optimum levels mainly to the decisive policy of key government agencies and the support of stakeholders and port communities.

It said the joint administrative order issued by the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Finance, Philippine Ports Authority and Bureau of Customs early this month has pre-empted possible logistics bottlenecks during the community quarantine, in which containers are being pulled out slower than usual by cargo owners.

“Government’s early intervention was critical to ensure that terminal operations remain unimpeded, so that the flow of food, raw materials, medicines, health equipment and other essentials remain unhampered, especially during this time of national emergency,” ATI executive vice president William Khoury said.

But while the situation has remained stable, ATI urged the ports and logistics community to not let up on the positive gains and keep up the pace in inducing cargo movement.

ATI advised consignees to pull out containers from the terminal at the soonest possible time, while other players such as private warehouses are encouraged to step up operations as important linkages in the logistics cycle.

ATI finished 2019 with a record high cargo volume of 1.61 million twenty-foot equivalent units handled in both Manila South Harbor and Batangas Container Terminal.

Its net income grew by 28.9 percent to P3.7 billion in 2019  while revenues increased by 8.6 percent to P13.3 billion behind higher international containerized cargoes handled by its gateway ports in Manila and Batangas.