By Emmie V. Abadilla Port operator Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) registered a 23.5 percent surge in revenues to P7.04 billion and a 53 percent rise in its net earnings to P2.14 billion in the first semester of this year as its gateway ports, Manila South Harbor (MSH) and Batangas Container Terminal (BCT), handled more international containerized cargoes. From January to June, MSH handled nearly 650,000 teus (twenty-foot equivalent units) of international boxed cargoes, a new mid-year record for the port and higher by over 15 percent versus the first half of 2018. With a bigger terminal footprint complemented by four quay cranes, eight rubber-tired gantry cranes and other modern equipment, BCT, on the other hand, facilitated the delivery of over 160,000 teus of foreign boxed cargoes for industries in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon). This is higher by over 45 percent than its mid-year cargo volume last year, setting BCT on pace of surpassing 2018’s full year throughput of nearly 250,000 teus. Port efficiency measures also boosted ATI’s cargo volume. In February, ATI and major international shipping lines entered into a terminal and vessel resource sharing agreement, called the Empty Loadout Shipping Alliance (ELSA), which paved the way for the immediate evacuation of empties from Metro Manila and its vicinity via MSH. To date, nine ELSA-participating shipping lines regularly pullout more than 10,000 teus of empty containers from MSH for recirculation to other Asian destinations on a weekly basis, effectively managing the build-up of empty containers in the supply chain. ATI also continuously transfers Customs-cleared overstaying boxes from MSH to its Sta. Mesa container yard, following the directives of the Philippine Ports Authority. This has contributed to optimized yard space and overall terminal efficiency.