CARGOES coming in and out of Subic Port may increase by as much as a third in the coming years, thanks to the growing demand for shipment in the north.
Subic Bay Management Authority Chairman Roberto V. Garcia said the port will be able to handle an annual 30-percent volume growth in the next five years.
“Subic Bay International Terminal Container can safely handle about 20 percent to 30 percent more cargoes year-on-year in the next few years,” he said.
Garcia said that, since 2014, the numbers of shipping lines calling regularly have increased markedly. Hence, cargo volume is expected to increase, making Subic a much busier port today.
The chairman noted because of the upgrades installed by the port operators, Subic is now equipped to handle forty-foot equivalent containers (FEUs).
“People think we can’t carry FEUs in Subic. This is wrong. We have the equipment to handle these big boxes from all over the world,” he said.
The terminal has a rated capacity of 600,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).
Garcia also said brokers and truckers will not experience a delay in releasing cargoes from the port.
“Some think it is difficult to get accreditation from us. It is not; it only takes half a day. And if the broker and the trucker still cannot finish the paper work within the day, we will still release the cargo. They only have to show proof that they have started the paperwork to be accredited,” he said.
Garcia added that, with all the upgrades and the infrastructure in place, Subic is the best option for businesses that carry goods to and from the northern part of Luzon.
As of end 2015, the number of containerized cargoes that went to Subic jumped to 123,510 TEUs, a 60-percent surge, from 77,177 TEUs the year before.
For noncontainerized cargoes, about 7.5 million metric tons of goods were shipped through the port, 24 percent higher from the 6.1-million mark the year before.