PPA on track for another record year

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is on track for another record year, with revenue closing in on the P25-billion level, still two months away from the peak demand period.

In a statement, PPA said revenues have grown by 11 percent to P24.97 billion as of October, from P22.58 billion a year ago, as ports are facilitating higher cargo and passenger traffic.

In turn, PPA’s net income increased by more than half to P10.67 billion during the period, from P7.08 billion, putting it on pace to remit record dividends to the government.

PPA general manager Jay Santiago attributed the growth to increasing cargo volume across ports, as the world recovers from trade shocks early this year. Trade was looking bleak at the beginning of 2025 when the US announced higher tariffs on imports.

However, the US pulled back on most of these tariff threats as a result of negotiations with trading partners. Eventually, trade resumed its regular routes, which in the process stabilized the port business.

Similarly, PPA became more aggressive with its digitalization programs, such as the Terminal Appointment Booking System, to encourage paperless transactions in ports.

“We are pleased to share that the PPA continues to register consistent improvement across all of our operational indicators, (and) we can attribute this to good and transparent fiscal management of the PPA,” Santiago said.

Ports under the PPA have taken in 262.84 million metric tons of cargo as of October, up by seven percent from 244.58 MMT a year ago.

With this, PPA expects cargo traffic to hit 301.47 MMT by the end of the year.

PPA said that ports are experiencing a surge in cargo activities due to the expansion of the mining industry, leading to the export of raw materials.

Furthermore, container traffic at the ports has increased by 11 percent to 7.14 million TEUs. The PPA said that the addition of new vessels to shipping fleets may increase container volume to eight million twenty-feet equivalent units.

PPA also reported a five-percent increase in passenger movement to 69.13 million, and this is expected to rise to at least 85.41 million once the Christmas traffic is included.

PPA is tasked to grow cargo and passenger traffic in ports to raise more revenue, from which it sources its profit, half of which is annually turned over to the government.