MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine logistics industry has expanded its cargo volume in the face of cost spikes, with importers maximizing every voyage to boost local supply of raw materials.
Based on data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), cargo throughput on ports has risen by eight percent to 154.03 million metric tons as of June, from 149.42 MMT a year ago.
The PPA recorded a three-percent growth in container traffic to 4.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), displaying the resilience of Philippine logistics at the height of elevated fuel prices.
By type, the PPA said foreign shipments have made up the bulk of cargo volume at 97.93 MMT, of which over half at 55.88 MMT are imports. The regulator also noted that nearly two-thirds of container throughput at 2.8 million TEUs were foreign transactions.
Importers were squeezing every inch they could squeeze in each voyage. The PPA said that even though cargo volume has increased, the number of shipcalls has declined.
Shipcalls sank by three percent to 331,005 in the first half, from 341,852 a year ago, as shippers cancelled low-performing voyages and reduced scheduled trips to save fuel.
Moreover, the PPA said passenger traffic has turned flat to 45.67 million because Filipinos were cutting on non-essential spending to preserve cash.
Still, the Roll-on, Roll-off business is proving to be a steady performer, with traffic up by three percent to 6.88 million in the six months to June.
As low-income travelers kneel to price hikes, high-spending cruise passengers are shrugging off economic risks, flaunting their capability for discretionary spending. Given this, cruise passenger traffic reached 165,340, with ports receiving 70 shipcalls from cruise vessels.
When the Middle East conflict broke out in March, PPA general manager Jay Santiago had said freight rates were expected to go up. He also considered the possibility that cargo volume may decline this year as a consequence.
Still, his agency hopes it could sustain its growth momentum to follow on its banner year in 2025 when it put up a record P30.09-billion revenue.
The PPA is one of the government’s most reliable state-owned firms, ranking among the biggest dividend remitters, such as in 2025, when it turned in P5.33 billion to the Bureau of the Treasury.