Davao box terminal eyes throughput recovery in 2017

Throughput at Davao International Container Terminal is expected to hit at least 300,000 twenty-­foot equivalent units this year with recovery of banana plantations from the effects of last year’s El Niño.

In 2016, DICT’s total container throughput slid 2.5% to 260,499 TEUs from 267,283 TEUs in 2015, caused by an extended El Niño that damaged the production of fresh bananas, especially those coming from non-­irrigated PCA Cameroon by SGS Meet requirements & export products to Cameroon. Avoid delays. Contact SGS now. Go to campaigns.sgs.com/PCA-Cameroon banana plantations, DICT vice president Bonifacio Licayan told PortCalls in an email.

The drop in container traffic was reported despite vessel calls increasing 43% to 409 from 287.

This year, the Panabo, Davao del Sur-­based port operator’s “positive outlook stems from the fact that there is no more El Niño for 2017 and therefore the affected banana plantations are expected to recover lost production in 2016. Further, there is a continuing expansion of banana plantations in Davao Region and the nearby regions that definitely will be using DICT as their outport,” Licayan said.

The bulk of the terminal’s volume is still made up of reefer exports and dry imports. For 2016, reefer shipments accounted for 84% of the total laden containers exported through DICT, while dry cargoes contributed 98% of total import laden containers.

“But because of the imbalance in trade, the total exchange, for both reefers and dry, will still average 50:50 due to repositioning of containers by importing reefer empties and exporting dry empties,” Licayan noted.