MANILA: Philippines port authorities have sought cooperation from cargo operators at Manila port to avoid cargo congestion which is feared to creep back at the Manila port if its stakeholders do not help maintain the unclogged situation.
Business groups have indicated skepticism on government claims that operations at the port of Manila have “completely normalized” after months of tightness due to the pileup of cargo containers.
Local trade groups such as the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines Inc., the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc. have expressed reservations about the reported easing of the situation.
They said it remains to be seen if the normal situation at the ports could be sustained when the peak season for trade starts at the second half of the year.
Some of the skeptics warn that congestion in ports in other countries will soon overflow into the “normal” Manila ports and restart the jamming up of cargo containers anew.
They mentioned the huge backlogs now being experienced in Kaoshiung, Singapore, Hong Kong and even in the United States, which have problems that are mostly unrelated to the improving local situation.
The local situation that should be the concern of the Manila port stakeholders, however, calls for all sectors to contribute in sustaining the improvements at the harbors for their common good.
A major concern among stakeholders is the resistance of freight rates to go down, both in shipping and trucking charges, despite the vastly improved ports situation.
For instance, even the slide of fuel prices has not resulted in lower trucking rates, which have risen by 50 to 100 percent after a truck ban was imposed in Manila in February last year.
Director Alberto Suansing of the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines said that while fuel cost eats up around 30 percent of the total operating cost of truckers, “it is still competition that primarily determines trucking rates.”
Suansing, however, had committed that truck rates will be reduced once the tight situation at the Manila ports eases and truck turnaround time returns to pre-congestion levels. Shipping lines also made the same commitment.
Maintaining the improvements at the Manila ports depends on the collaboration of port operators and users.
Cooperation, for instance, helped resolve the electricity supply deficiency now being addressed through the so-called Interruptible Load Program. The ILP was the product of collaboration between the government and private firms to ease the looming power shortage.
Demand for electricity rises with economic growth, but the requirement may not be met because the setting up of new power plants had been overlooked by the administration.
