MANILA, Philippines - Earnings of port operator Asian Terminal Inc. (ATI) jumped 80 percent in the first half of the year on the back of increased volumes handled by the Batangas Port in light of the truck ban imposed by the city government of Manila.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), ATI said it booked a net income of P933 million from January to June this year while port revenues reached P3.9 billion or 26.6 percent more compared to the same period last year.
The company traced the strong financial performance in the first half of the year to the higher container volumes in both Manila and Batangas and the growth of roll-on/roll-off cargoes at Batangas Port.
The Batangas Container Terminal booked a 254 percent increase in container throughput in the second quarter of the year after a 194 percent surge in volume in the first quarter.
“First half volumes already surpassed the 2013 full year mark,” ATI said.
The port operator said the Batangas Container Terminal continuously stepped up its role as trade facilitator in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas Rizal, and Quezon (Calabarzon), providing businesses with a viable port option that kept the flow of goods moving amid trucking and logistics constraints experienced in Manila of recent.
From two regular weekly ship calls, led by MCC Transport’s Intra-Asia 4 (IA4) and Philippine Feeder 4 (PH4) services, eight vessels are now servicing BCT which connect Calabarzon shippers directly to Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia and other key regional and global markets.
Complemented by two modern quay cranes, four rubber-tired gantry cranes and other cargo handling equipment, the container terminal has an annual throughput capacity of 350,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).