Port of Manila

Title

Port of Manila

Creator

Schedler, E. W.

Language

English

Source

The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume XXVI (No. 3) March 1950

Year

1950

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

The new Pier No. 9, South Harbor, Manila, can berth four large ocean-going ships simultaneously: It cost over P10,000,000, provided by the United States Government under the Philippine port and harbor rehabilitation program. The Pier measures 331 by 987 feet; the deck is of beam and girder construction, supported on concrete pedestals built in open caissons. This pier should not be confused with the handsome and still larger, pre-war Pier No. 7, now called Pier 13. Severely damaged during the war, it is now undergoing reconstruction. REAL ESTATE SALES, MANILA AND SUBURBS Monthly Totals Months 1949 September, 1949 — February, 1950 Combined Manila Suburbs September. . . . P 3,668,662 7 3,786,671 P 7,455,333 October............ 3,032,543 2,872,327 5,904,870 November........ 1,861,723 1,883,727 3,745,450 December........ 6,037,740 2,047,602 8,085,342 1950 January............ . . 4,486,846 3,554,460 8,041,306 February.......... 3,002,289 3,703,126 6,705,415 Cumulative. . . 722,089,803 P17.847.913 739,937,716 Mortgages registered during the month for Manila and suburbs totalled P6,569,351, as compared with P5,891,606 for January and P7,358,814 for December. Pri vate banks maintained their lead in mortgage volume, first noted last month. No marked changes in price levels have been noted so far this year. Land values remain strong, and the ten dency to higher building costs has lessened buyer bickering on the value, of improved properties. Fear of rental va cancies caused by recent commodity and currency controls has • prevented a runaway market in real estate, although the desire to hedge against inflation by real estate invest ments has kept the market tone exceptionally strong. Port of Manila By E. W. Schedler Vice-President, Luzon Brokerage Company PIER 9 was turned over to the Philippine Government on February 1, 1950. Contractors Syndicate No. 1, the builders of Pier 9, Manila Harbor, officially turned over the pier to the Philippine Government, and then in a few hours, the Philippine Ports Terminal was moving tractors and cargo equipment into place on the new pier, and the following day a ship berthed alongside die new pier and its usefulness to the people of the Philippines began. As the picture shows, the pier has four warehouses for storing cargo out of the rain, each warehouse penetrated by amply large doors for working cargo direct from the ship and on to the loading dock for the trucks. In a few days after the inauguration, a normal routine developed and cargo was moving at a speed not seen since the war. Pier 13 was then closed off completely to the public.in order that the Atlantic^ Gulf and Pacific Company can proceed with the rebuilding of that pier, unhampered by cargo or ships. 105 Likewise, the berthings at battered and antiquated Pier 5 have been cut down, as Pier 9 can handle four large ocean-going ships simultaneously. Pier 7 is partly closed for temporary repairs but it is accepting cargo over the pier. Cranes and overhead cargo working gear are yet to be installed at Pier 9. The machinery has been placed on the pier and by April 1, it is hoped the pier will be operating at full efficiency. Pier 9 will provide suitable relief for the overtaxed facilities of the Port of Manila, and it should cut down considerably the handling cost of cargo through the Port. At present the rules of the Port provide that export cargo must be loaded directly from the truck to the ship. This is a laborious method of loading as it does not permit stock piling of cargo prior to the actual on-ship loading. To facilitate the export trade, which is one of the objectives of many governmental moves, the next step will be to give the exporter from the Philippines a break by per mitting him the privilege of placing his cargo on the dock, enabling the stevedores to then load expeditiously when the ship is ready for cargo. Ocean Shipping and Exports By F. M. Gispert Secretary, Associated Steamship Lines EXPORTS for the month of January, 1950, showed a slight falling off compared with January of last year, which can probably be accounted for by the drop in scrap-metal shipments. Total exports for the month were 160,578 tons, as compared to 182,654 tons for the corresponding month last year. The comparison, by commodities, runs as follows: 1950 1949 Beer................................................ 61 tons 29 tons Coconut, desiccated.................. 6,687 ” 6,120 Coconut, oil................................ 2,766 ” 1,633 Concentrates, copper................ 5,223 ” 2,060 ’’ gold..................... 429 ” — Copra............................................ 38,010 ” 23,466 ” Copra cake meal........................ 4,198 ” 3,770 ” Embroideries....................... 135 ” 110 Empty cylinders........................ 580 ’’ 480 ” Furniture rattan........................ 513 ’’ 776 Glycerine..................................... 110 ” 353 ’’ Gum, cop'al.................................. 16 ” 53 Hemp............................................ 58,416 bales 7,302 bales Household goods........................ 241 tons 214 tons Junk, metal................................. 1,111 ” 16,229 Logs............................................. 11,788,661 bft. 2,185,910 bft. Lumber......................................... 739,555 ” 1,639,457 ” Molasses....................................... 4,774 tons 17,891 tons Plywood....................................... 12 — Ores, chrome............................... 9,437 ” 31,178 ” iron..................................... 24,077 ” 20,212 ” ” manganese........................ — 2,081 ” Pineapples, canned.................... 4,126 ” 2,620 Rattan, palasan.......................... 74 ” 149 Rope.............................................. 243 ” 289 ” Rubber.......................................... 80 ” 78 ” Sugar.............................................. 38,228 ” 35,477 ’’ Tobacco........................................ 81 ” 37 Transit cargo.............................. 431 ” 191 General merchandise:............. 7,453 ” 4,100 Inter-Island Shipping By D. M. Cameron General Traffic Manager Everett Steamship Corporation THERE has been no important change in the pattern of inter-island shipping in the last few months. Since the advent of more stringent import controls, out ward cargoes from Manila to the provinces have shown a decrease, which of course must be expected as outward cargoes are, for the most part, composed of imported com modities. When present stocks of imported com modities are depleted, an additional downward trend in volume is expected. However, return cargoes from Davao and ports in Mindanao and nearby continue in appreciable volume. Apparently due to the decrease in south-bound car goes, a number of operators of the smaller FS-type vessels have joined in a petition to the President of the Philippines asking the termination of the remaining charters of the U. S. Maritime Commission vessels in the inter-island trade. There are 6 of these vessels remaining from a total of 10 which were chartered in 1946, and this petition is based on the premise that these 6 vessels are no longer needed in the trade due to the alleged availability of an adequate number of privately-owned vessels. The position taken by these operators is not supported by facts, as the movement of bulk commodities from the further ports to Manila by the smaller vessels, in the volume required to maintain even present production, is impossible.. The present freight rates under which lumber, hemp, com, and rice are carried, would not permit compensatory opera tion of the small vessels, and it would be immediately neces sary to raise these rates in order that the small vessel, with its comparatively high operating cost in relation to its carrying capacity, could show a profit. This situation is apparent to those in the Philippine Government who are concerned with the industrial and agricultural pro gress of the Islands, and it is understood that representa tions have been made to the United States Government to continue these charters after June 30, 1950, when the Philippine Rehabilitation Law (under which they are chartered) terminates. Some of the operators of these chartered vessels have indicated their desire to purchase if the American law is adjusted to permit this; the U. S. Ships Sales Act proviso terminating sales to foreign coun tries was enacted without due consideration to the Philip pine Rehabilitation Program. In addition to the carriage of cargo, the transporta tion of passengers and the volume in which they move dictates the use of larger vessels than the FS-type which are more suitable for the shorter voyages to the less distant ports. It is understood that shippers of lumber, hemp, and the like have expressed themselves to the President as requiring the larger vessels for the continuation of their businesses. Lumber By Luis J. Reyes Philippine Representative, Penrod, Jurden & Clark Company EXPORTS for the month of January totalled 5,192,302 board feet, comprising 2,537,723 board feet of sawn lumber and 2,654,579 board feet in round logs. This is slightly less than the export for the month of December. Japan led the United States in the quantity of imports, with 2,453,634 board feet, as compared with 2,286,004 feet to the United States, although the money-value of shipments to the latter is greater. Before the war, Japan led all others in log imports, which were used almost ex clusively for plywood. In the Manila market, the demand for lumber has somewhat slowed down because of the uncertainties of the Import Control. As a result, prices have gone down P5 to P10 per thousand. A similar drop in prices occurred last year, starting about the middle of February, although before the war, prices weakened only when the rainy period begins, about the middle of June. 106

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