Shipping firms anticipate spike in volume

Local shipping lines are anticipating at least a 5-percent increase this year in the volume of goods being shipped to other countries in Asia, on the back of a robust Philippine economy.

However, hardly any growth is expected in shipments to other regions, primarily due to the ongoing debt crisis in Europe that has dampened economic activity in the continent, said Edgar Milla, president of the Association of International Shipping Lines (AISL).

According to Milla, growth is seen to be spurred partly by the regional cooperation among countries under the Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA).

Also boosting growth performance this year is the increased manufacturing and investment activity in the Philippines, which may spur the need for more imports particularly of capital goods including equipment and raw materials like steel and cement, Milla told reporters last week.

The strong Philippine economy may have likewise boosted consumer spending, which translates into bigger demand in the country for consumer goods like food, cereals and toiletries (shampoo and toothpaste).

“The robust economy fuels that inter-Asia trade,” Milla noted. “If you look at shipping lines, they can be regarded as a small barometer of [how well an] economy is faring.”

Milla also noted that while the Philippines has always been an importing country, the ratio of exports to imports has increased to 3:1, meaning for every three shipments that comes in, there’s only one shipment that goes out. The ratio used to be 2:1 in the early 2000, he added.

AISL is a nonstock, nonprofit corporation comprised of 41 container shipping lines carrying around 85 percent of the volume of Philippine containerized export and import cargoes.

It is recognized as the spokesperson of international container shipping in the Philippines.

Last week, the AISL forged an agreement with the Department of Trade and Industry in the hopes of curbing the rising incidence of abandoned and/or undelivered balikbayan boxes.

At the same time, this memorandum of agreement (MOA) is expected to help weed out unscrupulous or erring “foreign consolidators” and freight forwarders, particularly those that have not been accredited by the DTI-Philippine Shippers’ Bureau (PSB).

Trade Undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya earlier explained that the agreement would enable the exchange of information between AISL member companies and the DTI, to identify which firms have had records of delinquency and which among these forwarders are not properly accredited.

“The information from our office will properly guide the AISL in accepting or denying bookings of consolidated balikbayan shipments in their areas,” added Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba, director in charge of the DTI-PSB.

The nondelivery of balikbayan boxes often occurs when incoming shipments of balikbayan boxes are abandoned at the ports of destination (i.e., Manila), for failure of the foreign consolidators or forwarders to remit the necessary funds to their Philippine agents for the delivery of cargoes to the consignees. Amy R. Remo