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SUBIC
Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) expects cargo volume
to exceed its target for the year, but admitted that the
amount of goods—both containerized and bulk
Shipments—were still thin compared with the ports in
Manila.
Perfecto
Pascual, SBMA seaport department manager, said they
expect to overshoot cargo throughput target by some 10
percent, with break-bulk shipments contributing about 7
percent to the growth and the rest from containerized
cargoes.
Revenue
target, on the other hand, will increase between 5
percent and 8 percent, he said.
“Based
on our projections, we could surpass our container
volume by some 3 percent this year compared to last year
and break-bulk volume by 8 percent,” Pascual said.
To date,
foreign shipping already accomplished about 90 percent
of its target while domestic shipping is at its all-time
high in SBMA, he said.
Seaport
department records showed there are 1,101 vessels that
docked in Subic Bay during the first three quarters of
the year. Imports made up the bulk of the cargo handled
at 3,027 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) out of the
5,738 TEUs handled from January to September 2007.
Last
year the
Port of Subic handled cargoes totaling 34,601 TEUs, with imports
accounting for 17,109 TEUs.
Pascual
said they were able to beat targets in the first three
quarters of the year as a result of more shipcalls,
particularly domestic vessels carrying bulk cargoes.
This can
be deemed as an achievement for the port of Subic, which
posted a flat-to-negative Growth during the past years.
Still,
the latest cargo volume and vessel traffic was very thin
compared to those handled at the
port of
Manila.
Manila
International Container Terminal alone handles about 1.2
million standard containers every year, while the Manila
North Harbor handled 16.7 million metric tons in 2006.
SBMA
expects to have a significant increase its cargo
throughput starting next year with the operation of its
New Container Terminal-1, that is set to open for
commercial operations within the first quarter of 2008.
Based on
their projections, there will be a 200-percent increase
in container traffic to about 100,000 to 150,000 TEUs
once its two new container terminal becomes fully
operational by 2008. And there will be an additional
cargo throughput of about a 100,000 TEUs starting 2009,
when the other terminal starts operating.
SBMA has
secured a $215-million loan from Japan Bank for
International Cooperation to develop and privatize its
ports.
The
cargo handling operation of the first terminal was
already won by International Container Terminal Services
Inc. |
