State-run Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) booked a double-digit increase in profits despite the congestion experienced at the ports of Manila due to the truck ban imposed last year.

PPA overshot its P3.67 billion ($81.93 million) target by 16% or P582 million ($12.98 million).

Its gross revenues also grew 13.5% to P12.57 billion ($280.36 million) from P11.07 billion ($246.91 million).

Port revenues jumped 25% to P12.46 billion ($277.83 million) last year from P9.99 billion ($220.83 million) in 2013, thus exceeding the full-year target of P10.41 billion ($232.21 million) by 20%.

Traffic volume

The traffic volume at the ports despite the Manila ports congestion boosted the increase in port revenues, Sta. Ana said.

Philippine cargo volume went up by 4.6% to 211.2 million metric tons in 2014 from 201.9 million metric tons in 2013 despite the congestion at the Manila International Container Terminal of International Container Terminal Services Incorporated (ICTSI) and Manila South Harbor of Asian Terminals Incorporated (ATI).

Data showed that cargo shipped out of the Philippines grew 7.4% to 133.29 million metric tons last year from 124.05 million metric tons in 2013, as imports increased by 11.3% to 67.56 million metric tons while exports inched up by 3.77% to 65.73 million metric tons.

Cargo shipped within the Philippines though was almost flat at 77.91 million metric tons last year from 77.86 million metric tons in 2013.

Container volume, meanwhile, went up by 4% to 5.43 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 5.23 million TEUS, as foreign container traffic rose 3.4% to 3.29 million TEUs. Domestic container traffic grew 4.9% to 2.14 million TEUs.

Utilization rate at the ports of Manila is back to normal levels at 76.5% exactly a year after Manila city government imposed a truck ban that limited the movement of cargoes in and out of the ports during night time only.

But the Fund Management Income (FMI) fell 16% to P103.21 million ($2.30 million) last year from P122.50 million ($2.73 million) in 2013, due to the declined interest rates on special and high-yield savings deposits and the termination of Bond Sinking Fund held by the Bureau of Treasury from which interest income is also derived, Sta. Ana said.

Total expenses, meanwhile, went up by 9.7% to P6.47 billion ($144.40 million) from P5.89 billion ($131.46 million) as operating expenditures increased by 8.9% to P6.83 billion ($152.44 million) from P6.27 billion ($139.94 million).

Malacañang announced early this March that the port congestion has already been resolved.

“We are estimating the damage done by the so-called port congestion to run to probably hundreds of millions of US dollars,” Michael Raeuber, president of Royal Cargo and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines earlier said.

He added that the industry is still cautious, despite Malacañang’s statement that the port congestion has already been solved, following months after the truck ban was lifted.

Source: Rappler