Outside troubles see cargo growth
PUBLISHED: 9 Mar 2025 at 04: 00
The Transport Ministry plans to improve services and providers of Ranong Port after import-export levels rose lately.
Manaporn Charoensri, deputy minister of the Transport Ministry, said yesterday the raise was due to the turmoil in Myanmar, as well as reviews of call center fraud groups using Myawaddy and Tachileik as their foundation.
Thus, products that would normally be transported by property through the Mae Sot station in Tak and the Mae Sai station in Chiang Rai are now being rerouted to Ranong via sea travel, as are imports and exports to Myanmar.
” Ranong Port offers a possibility for shipping companies in the South, and this is an economic opportunity for sea delivery on the Andaman coast. The firm growth of the harbor is also in line with the president’s policy to promote the Southern Economic Corridor”, she said.
Ranong Port, under the supervision of the Port Authority of Thailand ( PAT ), has been instructed to expand container yard areas and upgrade facilities for improved shipping services to handle the ongoing increase in shipments.
Kriengkrai Chaisiriwongsuk, producer general of Touch, said that since January 2024, Ranong Port has seen an increase in imports and exports, mainly in animal feed maize exports and concrete imports.
As a result, there were 281 ships docking during fiscal year 2024 ( Oct 2023-Sept 2024 ), a 69 % increase over the same period the previous year. The port handled a total of 2, 796 containers, representing a 111 % increase. Approximately 324, 933 tonnes of cargo went through the port, a 251 % increase over the previous year, he said.
In the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 ( Oct-Dec 2024 ), there were 61 ships docking, a 91 % increase, 2, 002 containers passing through the port, a 458 % increase, and 21, 294 tonnes of products transiting through the port, a 26 % increase.
” The growth of Ranong Port reflects the expansion of the economy and the logistics industry that is linked to neighbouring countries, especially Myanmar, which is a major market for Thai exports such as cement and agricultural products, while the import of animal feed maize reflects the growing demand for raw materials in the animal feed industry”, he said.
Ranong Port currently has two piers: a multi-purpose pier that can take cargo ships weighing 500 gross tonnes, and a container pier that can handle ships weighing up to 12, 000 deadweight tonnes. ” The facility has the potential to become a maritime commercial hub on the Andaman coast”, he added.