The Philippines’ dominant terminal operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc continues to widen its national reach.Most recently it expressed interest in bidding for the 25- year contract to handle cargo at the port of Batangas, situated two hours south of Manila on the main island of Luzon.
“We already have the bid documents.We are currently studying it,“ ICTSI chairman and president Enrique Razon told reporters in April following the company’s annual stockholders’meeting.
The contract involves management, operation, maintenance, development and promotion of the 128-hectare Phase 2 of Batangas port, which costs about Peso5.5bn ($116.9m).
Phase 1, which is currently operated by Asian Terminals Inc, covers 20 hectares. Phase 2 will cater to a mix of bulk, break-bulk and containers with a yard capable of accommodating up to 7,000 teu.
Earlier, ICTSI acquired a 90.7% stake in Davao Integrated Port Services and Stevedoring Corp, which services the Sasa Wharf in Davao City in the far south Muslim-dominated island of Mindanao. It is also poised to operate the New Container Terminal 1 in Subic Bay Freeport, which is subject to a Swiss challenge in June this year.
“There are very few areas left to look at. Locally, there’s nothing new except expanding Davao and Subic,” Mr Razon said. ICTSI’s flagship facility Manila International Container Terminal announced this February it was introducing a fully-automated new central gate featuring truck portals with imaging cameras and automated driver transaction kiosks.
