The recovery of maritime trade globally is hindered by port congestion and unreliable schedules amid increased demand, according to UNCTAD’s Review of Maritime Transport 2022.
“Philippine export volume increased by 5.3%, with electronic products forming two-thirds of the total,” it said. “There has been on-and-off congestion at Philippine ports even before the pandemic. It only means that our ports cannot efficiently manage spikes in cargo volume. Also, it’s not just about the ports, it’s also about getting in and out of the port. If you discharge the cargo but cannot exit the port, it’s still congested,” PLSA President Mark Matthew F. Parco told“Even if they build additional ship berths there but trucks have to use the same roads, you will still have congestion,” he added.
He said ports must be developed nearer export zones, citing the example of Thailand’s deepwater Laem Chabang port south of Bangkok. “Shipping has been a challenge for us. During the pandemic, a lot of shipping lines stopped operating and not all of them resumed and they gave preference to big users like the US and some European countries and we were last in the priority,” he said in a phone interview.