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SUBIC BAY
FREEPORT—Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC),
the operator of Subic’s New Container Terminal-1 (NCT-1),
is training its sights up north for more business. SBITC
officials said their target market would mainly be port
users in North Luzon—an area which encompasses both
industrial and agricultural centers in the central plains
of Luzon, the highlands of the Cordilleras, and the
coastal areas of Ilocos and Cagayan.
“Subic is
now fully equipped to attract, foster and support
industries, and [will be] a key to an industrialized
Philippines,” said SBITC vice chairman Francisco Delgado
III, as the firm formally launched the NCT-1 on Friday.
NCT-1,
which is the first phase of
Subic’s $215-million port-development project, “will provide the
global link needed by industries in the Central and
Northern
Luzon growth corridors,” Delgado added.
THE cargo carrier M/V
Dover Strait
delivers another shipment at Subic’s New Container
Terminal-1. Port operator Subic Bay International Terminal
Corp. says it aims to tap port users in Central and
Northern Luzon to boost its market.
SBITC,
which is a joint-venture company of global port operator
International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI),
the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Royal
Ports Services Inc. (RPSI), had considered the largely
untapped areas north of
Manila as its primary client base, since it became the exclusive
handler of containerized cargo at
Subic’s NSD Terminal in 2000.
North
Luzon, which is anchored by the neighboring
Subic and
Clark free ports and contains several special economic zones and
industrial estates, “has shifted gear toward
industrialization,” SBITC has noted.
The area
also “offers world-class infrastructure, well-developed
transport networks, business incentives, and the best
local talent for employment,” SBITC added.
NCT-1,
which is the first phase of
Subic’s $215-million port-development project, had already
unloaded its first containerized cargo on April 2, when
the 1,200-TEU M/V Eagle Excellence delivered a shipment
from
Kaoshiung,
Taiwan.
However,
SBITC chose to introduce the NCT-1 to its target market
only after the commercial opening on April 28 of the
Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx)—a move underscoring
the firm’s direction to win over clients “up north” who
can now access the
port of
Subic
faster through the new expressway.
“Our main
market, besides the Subic Bay Freeport locators, are
businesses from Clark, Tarlac and Angeles City,” explained
SBITC general manager Aurelio Garcia.
With the
grand launching of NCT-1, SBITC hopes “to bring in the
port users, together with the shipping lines that make
port calls in Manila—get them talking [to] find out what
each party could do to support the development of this
facility [and give] them the chance to experience the
convenience that the SCTEx brings,” Garcia also said.
The
launching ceremony on Friday, which had shipping industry
leaders, business locators from Subic, Clark and Tarlac,
as well as local government officials as guests, was just
the first part of SBITC’s promotions program for NCT-1.
Garcia
said the company will also conduct road shows in Subic,
Bataan, Clark, Tarlac and other provinces in Central and
Northern Luzon to reach out to potential NCT-1 customers.
The
campaign will also involve presenting NCT-1 to foreign
shipping lines abroad that may use Subic as a
transshipment hub, Garcia added.
And while
officials at the
Port of
Subic
initially see cargo volume at NCT-1 to start at a mere
fraction of the facility’s annual capacity of 300,000 TEUs,
Subic’s container port is expected to generate enough
critical mass over the next few years of operation.
According
to SBMA seaport manager Perfecto Pascual, the 1,835-TEU
cargo volume projected in the first six months of
operation “would gradually increase from 2,000-3,500 TEUs
[monthly] in the second year, and so on until the full
capacity is attained.”
There is
even a plan to expand the backup area at the 14-hectare
NCT-1 for warehousing purposes “in support of the idea
that
Subic is ideal as a logistics and transshipment hub,” Pascual
added.
Moreover,
authorities here view the potent combination of Subic’s
container port, Clark’s expansive airport and the
expressway joining the two free ports as a sure-fire
formula to spur growth in the area and widen the global
market reach of industries therein.
“Now that
the infrastructure are in place, it would be easier to
attract foreign investments and boost local trade at the
same time,” said SBMA administrator Armand Arreza.
“With the
newly opened SCTEx, NCT-1—and later, NCT-2—could
exponentially increase global market access to industries
in Central and Northern Luzon,” Arreza said.
Business
locators here share the same view.
John
Corcoran, president of the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of
Commerce, had earlier lauded the expected “positive
impact” of the SCTEx, and now sees more development coming
up in the
Subic Bay area.
“It’s a
very exciting time for the [Subic] free port,” Corcoran said. “NCT-1 is going to be a great
resource for the businesses located here.” | 
