Manila ports congestion: How the odds stack up vs. Ports of Subic and Batangas

 

Transferring empty containers and some aspects of port operations from Manila to Subic and Batangas may not be enough to resolve the port congestion plaguing the Port Area as more business operations are located in Metropolis, economists said.

 

While Ports of Batangas and Subic are the next best options for inbound shipments, it would entail additional transfer costs for businesses – meaning higher costs that will be carried over prices of goods and eventually borne by the consumer, University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) School of Economics dean Peter Lee U  told GMA News Online.

 

Businesses would also choose the ports in Manila over the others given the proximity to their operations, Ateneo de Manila University Economics Professor Alvin Ang said in a separate interview.

 

Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo earlier said empty container vans are being transported to the ports of Batangas and Subic, while Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chairman and director Roberto Garcia said their port is willing to accommodate up to 7,000 container vans for free to help de-congest the ports in Manila.

 

But based on data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), the Manila International Container Terminal handles an annual capacity of 2.9 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) and Manila South Harbor processes 1.2 million TEUs.

 

The Batangas Container Terminal has an annual capacity of 400,000 TEUs while Subic Bay International Terminal Corp.'s (SBITC) New Container Terminal-1 and -2 can handled a combined annual capacity of 600,000 TEUs.

 

Economists also pointed out that the Manila port congestion started even way before the daytime truck ban was imposed by the City of Manila, but did not discount the likelihood that the truck ban slowed down the movement of cargo and worsened the situation the ports congestion. – With Analyn Perez/VS, GMA News