State-run Philippine Ports Authority revised downward its revenue and cargo growth forecast this year after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources ordered the closure of 23 mining operations in several areas in the country.
The port authority anticipated expansion to be nominal this year from the previous year’s exponential growth due to vital developments over the past two months.
PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago blamed the tapered expectation to the volatility of the Philippine currency as well as the expected drop in the operation of the mining industry in the Philippines.
“Last year was a great year for the agency as we were able to post significant figures in terms of cargo volume and revenues,” Santiago said.
The PPA in 2016 posted a P6.159-billion net profit, beating the target by 165 percent or P3.836 billion.
PPA was able to achieve the feat with strong figures coming from lay-up fees, Ro-Ro fees, berthing fees and remittances from Asian Terminals Inc.
The 2016 figure is 8 percent better against the P5.705 billion registered in 2015.
“While we expect this condition to be temporary, the authority is bracing for a challenging 2017,” Santiago said.
He said this year would be different as PPA anticipated it to be nominal due to several developments, especially in the mining industry.
“Based on our, almost all our business aspects have already reduced targets and budgets for 2017 ranging from the original 20 percent to only 3 percent,” Santiago said.
“Nonetheless, PPA will remain resilient and committed to carry out its mandate of better connectivity and service amidst these developments,” he added.
Among the hard-hit areas by the issues surrounding the mining industry are ports under the Port Management Offices of Surigao, Nasipit, Palawan, Batangas, Manila, and Northern Luzon.
These ports handle the bulk of the shipments from the mining firms like nickel, manganese, smelted copper, and refined copper including pumice, marble, silica sand as well as iron ore, chromium, silver and zinc.