ATI sees sustained growth in Batangas port volume

MANILA, Philippines - Port operator Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) is confident of booking strong volume growth this year at its Batangas Container Terminal amid the congestion at the ports of Manila.

ATI said in a statement that it would be able to sustain the record 762 percent growth in volume handled last year to 98,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) at the Batangas Container Terminal through its productive partnership with international carriers.

For the month of January alone, the volume handled by the Batangas port surged 1,200 percent to 12,000 TEUs as it continued to expand its role as a comprehensive port alternative for Cavite,Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon (Calabarzon) area.

The company pointed out that volume at the Batangas Container Terminal is expected to increase with the completion of the dredging of the port’s entrance channel, further deepening the turn basin to 13 meters.

“This gives carriers the capability to maximize their loadings and gives maximum port rotation flexibility when planning new market connections for Batangas,” ATI said.

According to the port operator, the major contributor to volume growth is leading intra-Asia carrier MCC Transport that regularly deploys two weekly services via Batangas.

MCC’s Philippine Feeder 6 (PH6) service offers faster connectivity between Batangas, Hong Kong, and Yantian, cutting transit time by more than half for Batangas imports from North Asia via Hong Kong trans-shipment.

Meanwhile, MCC’s Intra-Asia 9 (IA9) service offers direct export connectivity to Hong Kong and Yantian, as well as export transshipment to major Japan ports via Hong Kong.

The service also facilitates direct  and faster imports from Tanjung Pelepas and Singapore to Batangas.

In all, ATI booked an 8.6 percent increase in cargo volume to 1.02 million TEUs last year after a sharp increase in the volume handled by the Batangas Container Terminal. 

Building on the momentum, ATI said it would further improve its services and port processes this year through continuous investment on equipment, facilities and technology aligned with its expansion plans and investment commitment with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).

ATI spent P2.2 billion last year to undertake its most aggressive investment program in over two decades particularly for the South Harbor in Manila and the Batangas Container Terminal.