SURABAYA INDONESIA (ISL News) - Container terminal operator company PT Pelindo Terminal Petikemas/SPTP said there was an increase in international container flow in 2024 by 10.28 percent. International containers throughout 2024 were recorded at 3,995,525 TEUs while in the same period in 2023 there were 3,623,006 TEUs.
Corporate Secretary of PT Pelindo Terminal Petikemas Widyaswendra said that growth occurred in both export and import containers. In 2024, export containers were recorded at 2,060,679 TEUs or grew by 10.58 percent compared to 2023 of 1,863,442 TEUs. Meanwhile, import containers increased by 9.96 percent from 1,748,736 TEUs in 2023 to 1,922,855 TEUs in 2024. Transhipment containers also experienced growth from 2023 of 10,827 TEUs to 11,990 TEUs in 2024.
"Almost all container terminals in the PT Pelindo Terminal Petikemas environment that serve international containers have experienced growth, some of which are TPK Semarang and TPS Surabaya," said Widyaswendra, Monday (10/02/2025).
At TPK Semarang, the increase in international container flows occurred due to the addition of visits by a number of ships from several shipping companies. Not only that, the production of shipping company containers also increased. SITC shipping, for example, recorded an increase of 158 percent, Wan Hai by 142 percent and Evergreen 122 percent. TPK Semarang recorded a growth of 13 percent from 678,428 TEUs in 2023 to 766,913 TEUs in 2024.
Meanwhile, at TPS Surabaya, there was a recorded increase in international container flows of 9.65 percent from 1,375,927 TEUs in 2023 to 1,508,743 TEUs in 2024. One of the causes was an increase in the number of ship visits by 230 from the planned 192 ships.
"International containers in our Tanjung Priok 2 area also increased from 387,798 TEUs in 2023 to 563,113 TEUs in 2024 or grew by 45 percent," he continued.
The Association of Indonesian Export Companies (GPEI) acknowledged that despite challenges during 2024, Indonesian exporters continued to grow. Citing data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), GPEI Secretary General Toto Dirgantoro said that Indonesia's export value in 2024 grew by approximately 3%.
Toto appreciated the significant growth of containers as reported by the port authorities.
"Indeed, usually, the growth in container volume is always higher than the average national export value, because there are also export containers that are only for repositioning," he said.
Toto predicts that the export value in 2025 will grow higher at 4%. He hopes that, assuming an export value of 4%, the growth in export container volume will be higher.
"To support this, we hope that Pelindo will develop one of its ports to become a national hub, so that it does not need to rely on Singapore or Tanjung Pelepas Malaysia to carry out transshipment so that it can cut export costs," said Toto.
Indonesia's exports, which continue to grow positively, are also reflected in the volume handled by shipping companies in 2024. Ocean Network Express (ONE), a shipping company (main liner operator) from Japan, acknowledged the growth of Indonesia's exports during 2024.
President Director of PT Ocean Network Express Indonesia and also Country Head of ONE for Indonesia, Keishin Watanabe, said that the export volume served by the company last year experienced growth of around 5-10%, or around 400,000 TEUs.
“Imports are also almost the same, but the numbers are slightly smaller,” Watanabe said.
He predicted that Indonesia's international trade flow this year will continue to grow, despite concerns that globally, the volume of container trade will experience a slight weakening.
The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) previously reported that Indonesia's export value from January to December 2024 reached 264.7 billion United States (US) dollars, up 2.29% compared to 2023.
Acting Head of BPS Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti said that of the total value, non-oil and gas exports reached 248.83 billion US dollars or increased by 2.46%.
Previously reported that PT Pelindo Terminal Petikemas recorded a growth in container flow in 2024 of 7.1% compared to 2023. During 2024, the number of containers served by the company was 12,489,927 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), an increase from 2023 which was recorded at 11,661,489 TEUs. These containers consisted of 8,494,402 TEUs of domestic containers and 3,995,525 TEUs of international containers. PT Pelindo Terminal Petikemas said that the growth in container flow occurred in almost all container terminals managed by the company.
(ISL News Editorial Team/Corcom SPTP/email:islnewstv@gmail.com).
