Ocean shipping and exports

Media

Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: Ocean shipping and exports
Creator: Tunold, B. B.
Language: English
Year: 1954
Rights
Fulltext: as compared with 610, with a total value of ?8,245,425, registered during the preceding month of January, 1954. Of the February sales, 16f, with a total value of ?2,444,703, represented deals within Manila proper, and 470, with a total value of P4,484,820, were transactions regis tered in Quezon City, Pasay City, and in the suburban towns of Caloocan, Makati, Paranaque, Malabon-Navotas, Mandaluyong, and San Juan. A few of the bigger sales registered during the month were: Intramuros Cabildo St. A parcel of 1,436.6 iq.m. sold by Jeiui Tan to Manuel Chua for 735,000. Malate M. H. del Pilar St. A property with a lot of 1,333.7 iq. m. iold by Joie Tan to Remigio V. Tan for 7150,000. Villalobos St. A property with a lot of 419 eq. m. told by Remigio Tan to Joie Tan for 7200,000. Sampaloc M. Earnshaw St. Purchased by the City of Manila for expropriation purposes was a lot of 728.3 sq. m. for 751,698. San Nicolas Ylang-Ylang St. A property with a lot of 453.7 sq. m. sold by Antonio Tansipelc to Safety Sweet Corporation for 7105,000. San Miguel Echague St. A parreel of 984.7 sq. m. sold by Emilia Guidote to Gomba and Hermoaura for 7126,000. Mayhaligue St. A property with a lot of 185.6 iq. m. told by Bnrique Caitro to Chien Peng for P60.000. Gotamco. A property with a lot of 688 sq. m. sold by Domingo Tuason to Maria Corazon Rosario for 789,000. Dominga St. A property with a lot of 1,055.24 sq. m. sold by Antonia V. Se bastian to Luis S. Guzman for the reported sum of 720,000. The sale of 52 lot for the sum of 7353,305 by Xavierville Estate, Inc. to Ramona Vda. de Favis. The transfer to the corporate name Xavierville Estate Inc. of 178 lota by Varsity Hills, Inc. for 7454,803. South “D” corner South Sth Sts. A tract of 4,410 sq. m. sold by Tomas de Vera to Yao Mien Tek for 740,000. Sfa. Mesa Heights Quezon Boulevard. A tract of 4,000 sq.m, sold by J. M. Tuason Co., Inc. to Fe del Mundo for the sum of 790,000. Caloocan Samson Road. A tract of 10,819 iq. m. told by Baldomero Roxai to Vicente Ang for 781,584. Mahogany St. A tract of 8,056 iq. tn. sold by Ayala Securities Corporation to Shriro (Phil.) Inc. for 7128,896. Ipil St. A parcel of 2,339 sq. m. sold by James H. Baldwin to Maximo Goquinco for 736,254. A property with a lot of 4,381 sq. m. aold by Luis Torres Yao Boon Keg for 7110,000 to Ching Leng. "D EAL estate mortgages registered in the Greater Manila area during the month numbered 584, with a total value of 1 * 7,588,681, as compared with 465, with a total value of Pl 1,700,256, registered during the preced ing month of January. Of the February mortgages, 216 with a total value of only . P2,980,579, represented deals within Manila proper, and 368, with a total value of P4,608,102 rep resented mortgages registered in Quezon City, Pasay City, and in the suburban towns of Caloocan, Makati, Mandaluyong, Malabon Navotas, Paranaque, and San Juan. REAL ESTATE SALES, 1954 Queaon Pasay Suburban Manila City City Towns Total January..........* 4,757,076^1,306,427 ^505,410 M,676,512 P8,245,425 February........ 2,444,703 2,295,413 330,245 1,859,162 6,929,523 REAL ESTATE MORTGAGES, 1954 January..........P6,243,766 Pl,308,920 P517.867P3.629.703Pl 1,700,256 February.... 2,980,579 1,891,440 600,810 2,115,852 7,588,681 Building Construction By Juan J. Carlos President, United Construction Co., Inc. DURING the month of January, the Office of the City Engineer approved building permits for construction work amounting to P3,825,995. For the same period in 1953, the volume of work authorized amounted to P3,742,310, in comparison with P4,921,570 in 1952 and P4,796,840 in 1951. ’ Some of the big projects that were started during the month under review were: A 4-story commercial building on Juan Luna Street, Binondo, for Tan Cho, estimated at P200,000; On Tacoma Street, Port Area, a 1-story building, costing P120.000, for the Luzon Stevedoring Company; For Yutivo Sons Hardware Company, a 1-story building on Penafrancia Street, Paco, estimated at P150.000; A second-floor addition to the existing office building of Dy Pac, on Juan Luna Street, Binondo, costing P70.000. touring the period under review, prices of steel materials U registered a downward trend. Reinforcing steel bars are now quoted at P320 to P370 per ton, depending upon the size, against P350 to P410 per ton the month before. Com mon wire-nails are selling at Pl to P2 less per keg of 45 kilos. Galvanized iron pipe, 1/2 inch in diameter, the most commonly used size, which used to sell at P6.80 per length of 21 ft. before, is now quoted at P6.00. Galvanized-iron sheets registered a decrease in price of P.30 to P.40 per sheet. The decrease in prices of steel products in the local market is the effect of the low prices of these items in the European market, which are being followed by American manufacturers. As it is now, Japanese goods are quoted at higher prices than European, and in most cases even higher than United States prices. The price of lumber, on the other hand, has remained firm. The supply of local cement was sufficient for the consumption. Ocean Shipping and Exports By B. B. Tunold Secretary-Manager Associated Steamship Lines TOTAL exports during the month of January of this year showed an increase of 14,808 tons over exports during January of last year; 132 vessels lifted 351,598 tons of exports during the month as compared to 336,790 tons lifted by 114 vessels during the same month last year. Commodities which have registered sharp increases over last year’s figures for the same month are: copper con centrates from 778 to 9,744 tons; junk metal from 20 to 6,000 tons, and logs from 13,859,015 to 36,437,788 bd. ft. Exports during January, 1954, as compared with exports during January, Commodity Alcohol..................................... Beer............................................ Cigar and cigarettes............. Cocohut, desiccated............. Coconut oil............................. Concentrates containing copper, gold, silver, lead, and zinc.............................. Concentrates, copper........... Copra........................................ Copra cake and meal........... J, were as follows: 1954 1953 26 Tons — 33 ” 209 Tons 16 ” 19 ” 1,595 ” 3,009 ” 3,463 ” 3,292 ” 541 ” — 9,744 ’ 778 ” 50,321 35,550 ” 4.034 ” 3,850 ” 99 Embroideries.......................... 212 ” 223 ” Empty cylinders.................... 155 ” 473 ” Furniture, rattan.................. 689 ” 871 ” Gums, copal........................... 66 ” 76 ” Hemp........................................ 66,673 Bales 81,284 Bales Household goods and per sonal effects ....................... 294 Tons 252 Tons Junk metal............................. 6,000 ” 20 ” Logs.......................................... 36,437,788 Bd.Ft. 13,859,015 Bd.Ft. Lumber, sawn....................... 3,543,231 ” ” 5,956,943 ” ” Molasses................................... 9,334 Tons 14,050 Tons Ores, chrome.......................... 45,248 ” 43,468 ” Ores, iron................................. 39,780 ” 93,591 ” Pineapples, canned............... 2,453 ” 3,435 ” Rattan, round (Palasan). . . 208 ” 364 ” Rope.......................................... 233 ” 302 ” Shells, shell waste................. 95 ” 67 ” Shell buttons.......................... 13 ” — Skins, hides............................. 140 ” 61 ” Sugar, cent./raw.................... 83,514 ” 76,087 ” Sugar, muscovado................ 643 ” 237 ” Tobacco ................................... 129 ’ 3,798 ” Veneer....................................... 31 ” — Transit cargo.......................... 21 ” — General merchandise........... 924 ” 465 ” Port of Manila By W. S. Hurst Administrative Officer, Luzon Brokerage Company DELIVERIES from the Piers for the month of February totaled approximately 70,000 tons. This was a poor month, with far fewer ships arriving than during any month in the past six. As can be noted from the newspapers, the reorganiza tion of the Bureau of Customs has not been completed as yet. Many new ideas as to procedure are being tried out. Some of these are excellent and if continued in practice will prove beneficial to everyone. Some of the new pro cedures, however, involve too much “red tape,” causing unnecessary delays. To keep its customers abreast with what is going on, the Luzon Brokerage Company has issued a circular per taining to delays caused by mismarking of cargo by the suppliers. For the interest of all importers, I am including this in the Journal report as follows: ‘‘You have probably already noted that the clearing of documents and the final delivery of your merchandise to your premises has slowed up considerably in the past two months. This is due entirely to the reorganization now going on in the Bureau of Customs. Documents that were formerly processed in from 1 to 2 days now take from 4 to 5 due to the strict enforcement of existing regulations. “Once the permit to deliver is released to us by the Customs, del ivery from the Piers is a simple matter, provided that the cargo meets in every way the description as shown on the ship’s manifest. Different marks and different description of cargo requires amendments to the corresponding documents. This formerly could be done in a matter of minutes. It is now a matter of days. Even in obvious cases where formerly the Wharfinger had the authority to pass on deliveries, now direct amendments have to be made, requiring signatures from the shipping agent and of three officials in the Custom House. This takes time. “To explain the foregoing more fully, we cite a few specific cases in which suppliers make the following mistakes: “1. They show on the manifest ‘cases’ when it should be ‘cartons,’ or vice versa.. “2. They show ‘pieces’ when it should be ‘bundles’, and vice versa. “3. They show on the manifest the consignee’s ‘mark,’ which is often a code name or abbreviation, and then on the case print the full name cf the consignee. “4. Many of the cases or cartons are lettered in crayon, which is unacceptable without an amendment being made. “It is earnestly requested that when placing orders with your suppliers that emphasis be laid on the fact that the markings on the manifest must coincide with the markings on the cases, cartons, etc. “Storage charges on undelivered cargo begin 6 days after the last discharge from the ship. Should it take 4 days to process the original documents and then at a later date another 3 days to obtain an amend ment, storage charges will be incurred. “It is a policy of the Luzon Brokerage Company to pay all storage charges on undelivered cargo when the cargo is undelivered within the specified time allowed due to our fault. However, having to obtain an amendment is not the fault of the broker, and in such case storage charges will have to be charged to the customer. “We wish to take this opportunity to inform you of three new rulings which are as follows: “1. The Bureau of Customs requires any importer, who submits to his customs broker shipping documents beyond 15 days from arrival of the carrying vessel, to submit to the Collector of Customs a written explanation cf the cause of the delay in the presentation of these docu ments. “2. The Commissioner of Customs has ruled that shipments with out entry within the given 15-day period or without satisfactory ex planation, will be confiscated and later on scld at public auction. “3 No shipments coming from Hongkong can be cleared without the original consular invoices. No release can be made until such docu ments are presented.” Freight Car Loadings By Jose B. Libunao Traffic Manager, Manila Railroad Company LOADINGS of revenue freight in the month of January, 1954, totaled 6,746 cars. This was a decrease of 124, or 1.81% less than in January, 1953, of 6,870 cars. The decrease was due to a greater number of cars undergoing repairs during the period under review. It is also possible that sugar centrals, anticipating increased sugar cane tonnage, asked for a greater number of cars than they actually needed, resulting in a lesser number of cars avail able for other commodities. The fact is that many car requisitidns could not be met. Revenue Car loadings by Class January—Tonnage 1954 1953 Products of agriculture...................................... 82,843 88,238 Animal products................................................... 424 875 Products of mines............................................... 1,773 2,068 Products of forests.............................................. 11,103 12,077 Products of manufactures................................. 20,800 34,840 Merchandise less than by carload............... 9,562 9,721 Total....................................................... 126,505 1471819 Of the 44 items treated in this review, 34 items suffered decreases aggregating 25,883 tons, while only 10 items registered increases of an aggregate 4,569 tons, or a net decrease of 21,314 tons. The items responsible for the decrease were: centrifugal sugar, 13,531 tons; rice, 2,454 tons; wood fuel, 1,430 tons; palay, 1,249 tons; gasoline, 963 tons; desiccated coconut, 851 tons; iron and steel products, 759 tons; fertilizer, 684 tons; and stone, gravel, and sand, 535 tons; or a total of 22,456 tons. The items which registered increases were: other miscellaneous manu factures, 2,245 tons; cement, 730 tons; and other products of agriculture, 518 tons; or a total of 3,493 tons. As may be noted, centrifugal sugar suffered the biggest decline. This was attributable to the delayed production on account of unfavorable weather and other causes. There was the poor rice crop to account for the 4,703 tons reduc tion. Only cement showed an improvement which could be accounted by a greater importation of this commodity. The decrease in carloading was general. With the exception of 10 items, all items under review suffered decline. The only consoling factor in the situation is that this general decrease in freight carloading went hand in hand with the decrease in the export and import of the commodities concerned. Some elements responsible, therefore, were external and there was very little which could be done to offset them. Of course, highway competition is more ag gressive, but this may be considered temporary as under cutting of rates can not be carried on indefinitely. A change of Administration is always a factor which slackens business, even if only for a short period. 100