PH sea cargos recover prepandemic volume
MANILA, Philippines -Local sea terminals continued to show increasing activities as cargo movements last year surpassed prepandemic levels but passenger traffic has yet to fully recover, according to data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
Cargo throughput last year grew by about 5 percent to 271.97 million metric tons (MT) from 259.14 million MT in 2022. The latest print also exceeded the prepandemic volume of 265.88 million MT in 2019.
Bulk of the cargo movement was accounted for by foreign shipments, which climbed by 8 percent to 173.06 million MT last year from 160.81 million MT.
Local shipments, meanwhile, were up 0.6 percent to 98.91 million MT for the year from 98.32 million MT in 2022.
READ: Cargo traffic at ports busier in 2023
About 37 percent of cargos last year, equivalent to 100.26 million MT, passed through the ports in Manila and North Luzon.
The next busiest ports were those in Visayas with 52.59 million MT, followed by Northern Mindanao terminals with 47.35 million MT.
Passenger traffic
Passenger traffic, meanwhile, surged by 24 percent to 73.61 million last year from 59.19 million in 2022. However, this was still below the 2019 level of 83.72 million passengers.
The local ports saw heavier passenger volume following the return of cruise ships after three years of halting leisure sails due to pandemic-induced mobility restrictions.
Meanwhile, roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) traffic rose by 6 percent to 10.7 million vehicles last year from 10.05 million in 2022.
READ: 300,000 passengers to flood ports nationwide Friday — PPA spox
The PPA has been beefing up passenger capacity at its terminals, inaugurating Port of Coron in Palawan and Port of Calapan in Oriental Mindoro, among others, last year.
The port regulator also seeks to develop more cruise terminals in Palawan, Siargao, Camiguin, Boracay and Puerto Galera.
Previously, the transportation department said it was also set on building and expanding 14 Ro-Ro ports in Northern and Eastern Luzon, Central Visayas and Mindanao. Each is estimated to cost P100 million.
These include San Vicente, Maconacon and Palanan ports in Northern Luzon; Dilasag, Baler, Infanta and Catanauan ports in Eastern Luzon; Cadiz, Ajuy and San Fernando port in Central Visayas; and Lupon and Sta. Ana ports in Mindanao. INQ
