Port of Manila

Title

Port of Manila

Creator

Moore, R. L.

Language

English

Source

The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume XXVII (Issue No. 7) July 1951

Year

1951

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Building Construction By Juan J. Carlos President, United Construction Co., Inc. DURING the month of May, the approximate cost of new construction work applied for in the City of Manila amounted to P5,101,580, in comparison with P4,387,600 for the same month in 1950, P5,118,200 in 1949, and P9,357,710 in 1948. Several big projects which were started during the month of May, namely the 5-story reinforced concrete building for Go Soc Sons & Sy Gui Huat, Inc., on Rizal Avenue, near the corner of Doroteo Jose; the 3-story Martinez-Leyba office building at the corner of Rizal Avenue and Raon; the Philippine Women’s University Annex; and the 3-story residence for Ang Beng on Dewey Boulevard, which all together are estimated to cost around P3,000,000, account for a part of the costs of the construction applied for during May. The recent arrival of big shipments of construction materials considerably eased the tight supply situation in _____ ___, __ building items which has gripped the local market during * during the same month of last year, past months. These shipments correspond to the first ~ batch of licenses approved by the PRISCO after the licens ing of construction materials was transferred to this entity on May 1,1951. As expected, the prices of essential items have decreased considerably, due not only to the new sup plies but to the fact that new importers, who either have no bodega facilities or lack sufficient capital, have to dispose of their stocks hurriedly and even at a loss. Galvanizediron roofing-sheetS, reinforcing steel bars, paint, and other important building items are now selling at below govern ment ceiling-prices. It is expected that a further decrease in price will be registered as more shipments arrive. Port of Manila By R. L. Moore Vice-President, Luzon Brokerage Company AS a result of various protests, Customs has finally let an invitation for bid to be opened on July 5 for the in-transit bond storage' presently operated by the Esguerra 8b Company, in the Port Terminal Building. The terms are so tight however that none of the regular warehouse people can participate. For example, it is Stipu lated in the contract any such warehouse space furnished must be within the Customs Zone or the immediate vicinity. The only space answering this description is that in the Port Terminal Building. It is also stipulated that the Customs will regulate the policies, rates, etc. This is now under protest by the Warehousemen Association. We doubt, however, that much will come of this. The only good that has developed so far is that Esguerra has offered to reduce the rate from P0.80 a ton per day to P0.40. Need we say more? The short shipping strike in the United States, now over, will do little or no harm in the big picture and in fact, will probably in a measure stimulate the local market. This together with the large release of import licenses for essential items during the past two months points to a very large influx of merchandise during at least the months of July and August. We do not understand exactly what is happening in the case of the various E.C.A. shipments and, specifically, in the case of the fertilizer coming to the Philippine Gov ernment, the first shipment of which will be on the S.S. Socrates arriving early July. There are all kinds of ru mors and this writer attempted to get the straight of the story from Mr. Stanley Allen of E.C.A. We understand that PHILCUSA has delegated, with E.C.A. approval, to Customs, complete charge of handling the shipments, including receiving, storing, and delivery. We are told that in the matter of the handling and delivery, Customs is turning this over to the Delgado Brothers. We would think that this would be the type of shipment that would be let out for invitation to bid by all parties, in the interest of the Government getting the most economical rates. Apparently this will not be the case. As usual we have protested and as usual ours is the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Total showed Ocean Shipping and Exports By B. B. Tunold Secretary -Manager Associated Steamship Lines ‘ <OTAL exports for the month of May of this year _ 1 an increase of more than 62% over exports during May of last year. 110 vessels lifted 362,634 tons of exports during the month, as compared to 225,594 tons lifted by 94 vessels Commodities which have registered sharp increases over last year’s figures for the same month are: junk metals from 377 to 6,351 tons; logs from 2,770,659 to 17,198,531 bd. ft.; sawn lumber from 3,970,945 to 6,400,354 bd. ft., molasses from 2,799 to 13,933 tons; iron ore from 36,678 to 88,863 tons; manganese from nil to 7,152 tons; tobacco from 6 to 586 tons. Exports for May, 1951, as compared with exports during May, 1950, were as follows: ’ Commodity Alcohol................................................ Beer...................................................... Coconut, desicated.......................... Coconut oil......................................... Concentrates, gold........................... Copra................................................... Copra cake/meal.............................. Embroideries..................................... Empty cylinders............................... Fish, salted......................................... Fruits, fresh....................................... Furniture, rattan.............................. Glycerine............................................ Gums, copal....................................... Hemp................................................... Household goods.............................. Junk metals....................................... Kapok.................................................. Logs...................................................... Lumber, sawn................................... Molasses.............................................. Plywood and plywood products.. Ores, chrome..................................... Ores, iron............................................ Ores, manganese............................... Pineapples, canned.......................... Rattan, palasan................................ Rope..................................................... Rubber................................................ Shells, shell waste............................ Skins, hides........................................ Sugar cent./raw................................ Tobacco.............................................. Vegetable oil...................................... Transit cargo..................................... Merchandise, general...................... May 1950 27 tons 12 ” 11,794 ’’ 3,256 ” 393 ” 35,713 ” 4,724 ” 171 ” 498 ” 16 ” 264 ” 796 ” 136 *’ 56 ” 62,835 bales 809 tons 377 ” 79 ” . 2,770,659 bd. ft. 3,970,945 ” 2,799 tons 58,755 sq. ft. 29,618 tons 36,678 ” 1951 134 tons 155 ” 7,088 ” 4,117 ” 312 ” 48,278 ” 4,781 ” 284 ” 343 ” 16 ” 146 ” 910 ” 134 ” 114 ” 100,593 bales 482 tons 6,351 ” 77 ” 17,198,531 bd. ft. 6,400,354 ” 13,933 tons 18,708 sq. ft. 8,506 tons 88,863 ” 7,152 ” 3,201 ” 466 ” 537 ” 67 ” 96 ” 116 ” 101,959 ” 586 ” 17 ” 1,019 ” 621 ” 5,593 166 252 111 29 249 65,502 6 67 514 393 Lumber By Luis J. Reyes Philippine Representative, Penrod, Jurden & Clark Company THE volume of timber exported during the month of May according to the Bureau of Forestry was one of the biggest, consisting of 6,245,829 board feet of 227

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