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SUBIC
BAY FREEPORT — Aside from a 30-percent growth in ship
calls at the port of Subic in 2008, the Subic Bay
Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) expects a significant
increase in bulk and break-bulk commodities, heavy- lift
cargo and transshipments to be handled here this year.
According to the SBMA Seaport Department, the volume of
noncontainerized cargo handled in Subic would rise from
1.89 million to 2.66 million metric tons (MT) this year,
or a growth of more than 40 percent.
This
projection is broken down into 2.36 million MT for bulk
and break-bulk goods, 264,064 MT for heavy equipment
lift and roll-on roll-off cargoes and 3,193 MT for
transshipments.
Containerized cargo, on the other hand, is forecast to
remain relatively flat this year because of the
imposition of Executive Order 156, which curtails the
importation of used vehicles into this free port.
However,
SBMA seaport projections also consider a “gradual
increase” in container volume with the operation of
Subic’s new container terminal and the opening this
month of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, which
connects Subic to industrial and agricultural centers in
Central and Northern Luzon.
The
operation of NCT 1 and NCT 2, which have a combined
cargo-handling capacity of 600,000 twenty-foot
equivalent units (TEUs), is expected to free other piers
here for more noncontainerized shipping operations,
officials said.
These
ports include Sattler Pier, which is used to load and
unload general cargo; Nabasan Wharf, which handles heavy
lift operations; and piers at the Boton logistics area,
which are separately used to transship fertilizer and
petroleum products.
Sattler,
which is located near warehouses at
Subic’s proposed
NSD
Logistics Center, would be the primary facility for bulk
and break-bulk operations, officials added.
Last
year, petroleum products comprised the bulk of
noncontainerized cargo handled in Subic, with a total of
6.97 million MT in import throughput and 11,664 MT in
transshipment.
Among
the biggest noncontainerized imports handled here were
motor vehicles at 86,708 MT; steel and metals at 16,381
MT; machineries and parts at 4,912 MT; and electrical
parts at 4,213 MT.
Top
noncontainerized exports, meanwhile, were motor vehicles
at 906 MT; machineries and parts, 652 MT; plywood and
veneer, 509 MT; textiles and garments, 467; and fruits
and vegetables, 454 MT.
On the
other hand, the biggest transshipments other than
petroleum products here were frozen products at 5,207
MT; chemicals, 3,234 MT; cigarettes and tobacco, 2,223
MT; and electrical parts, 1,350 MT.
SBMA
senior deputy administrator for operations Ferdinand
Hernandez said the port of Subic is now expanding its
capacity to handle a wider range of cargo vessels, as
SBMA focuses on strengthening this free port’s maritime
capacities.
The
agency announced earlier a projected 30- percent rise in
ship calls at Subic, from 1,778 in 2007 to about 2,300
this year, along with a conservative revenue growth of
about 5 percent.
Last
week, subic’s NCT 1 came online when the 1,200-TEU
container carrier M/V Eagle Excellence delivered the
first cargo to be unloaded at the $215-million container
port.
At the
same time, Sattler Pier took in M/V Stella Deneb, the
world’s largest livestock transporter, which delivered
some 3,000 heads of cattle to various local consignees.
It was
also the first time in
Subic for the
213-meter-long livestock carrier, which has been
described as “a giant floating feedlot” for its capacity
to load up to 25,000 cattle, as well as hold 5,000 tons
of feeds, 15 tons of chaff and sawdust for pens and more
than 3,000 metric tons of water. |
