Subic seaport, Philippines surpasses 2008 growth targe
A resurgent Subic seaport surpassed its collection target by 21 percent last year and posted a 27-percent revenue growth despite enduring the ban on imported cars, a significant income source in the past several years. A year-end report from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s (SBMA) seaport department indicated that actual
revenue collections by Subic seaport totaled P276.24 million in 2008, a record 26.6-percent increase from P218.2 million posted in 2007.
The revenue also represented a 21-percent increase over the P228.21-million target for 2008.
SBMA senior deputy administrator for operations Ferdinand Hernandez said in the report that several “astute management initiatives” helped bring about the seaport’s “stellar performance.”
These include raising the processing fee and the SBMA share on cargo handling, a proposal approved by the SBMA board in April 2008; and revoking oil trader Philippine Coastal Corp.’s exemption from payment of wharfage and berthing fees.
The SBMA seaport department also convinced Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Corp., as well as its local subsidiary HHIC-Phil, which operates the $1.6-billion Subic shipyard, to promptly pay storage and wharfage fees, Hernandez said.
He explained that big-ticket firms in Subic, like Hanjin, Coastal, APL and Glenn Defense, have credit lines with the SBMA as a way of enticing them to locate in this free port.
Hernandez said Subic seaport’s revenue-collection efforts resulted in incomes of P68.91 million from vessel charges, or 4 percent over the 2008 target; P109.24 million from cargo charges, or 7 percent over the target; P40 million in SBMA share, or 14 percent over the target; P20.61 million in processing fees, or 38 percent over the target; P27.53 million in lease rentals, or 1,217 percent over the target; and P9.92 million in other charges, or 30 percent over the target.
Seaport officials said the surge in Subic seaport revenue last year proved that there is life for Subic after Executive Order 156, which banned the importation of used vehicles. But it was an anxiety-filled year, nevertheless.
“Aside from the fact that 2007 was a tall order to follow, as it was the year that the seaport department registered a record high of 19.6-percent growth in revenue, 2008 was also the year that the full impact of the implementation of EO 156 was supposed to [have been] felt,” Hernandez said.
“To complicate matters, the global financial crisis has begun to show its face during the second half of the year. But against these odds, the Seaport Department, for the second year in a row, recorded an all time high in revenue,” Hernandez added.
Retired Navy Capt. Perfecto Pascual, who heads the SBMA seaport department, said 2008 could have been a disastrous year were it not for the fiscal reforms that overrode the effects of EO 156.
Pascual said his department made a slow start, posting a 20-percent drop in revenues for the first quarter of 2008, mainly due to Maersk Shipping Line’s decreased operations and eventual pullout.
But starting second quarter, he added, there was a surge in revenue because of the effective implementation of the department’s Q4-2007 plans and programs.
In particular, Pascual said the revocation of Coastal’s exemption from vessel and cargo charges resulted in P3 million worth of additional revenue each month. The April 2008 startup operation of the 300,000-TEU New Container Terminal (NCT-1), meanwhile, brought some P4.3 million monthly.
However, Pascual said the economic slowdown that began last year still left a 20-percent shortage on bulk/break-bulk cargoes compared with 2007 records.
He added that the SBMA hopes to fill this gap with Hanjin’s continuous importation of heavy equipment and steel products that are expected to increase by 172 percent this year.
The SBMA Seaport year-end report, likewise, indicated that total export and import transactions in Subic fell by 19.4 percent last year to 29,730 from 36,451 in 2007.
Ship calls posted a modest 6.3- percent growth—1,893 compared with 1,781 in 2007. Projection for 2009 is 2,052, with total tonnage of 15 million.
Because of this year’s economic slowdown, Pascual added that Subic now forecasts a smaller volume of containerized cargo—from a total of 29,370 TEUs in 2008 to 28,551 TEUs this year.
In terms of non-containerized cargo, this year’s forecast is 2.19 million metric tons compared with the 2008 record of 1.87 MT.
Despite the global downturn, Pascual said the SBMA seaport department still expects revenue of about P316.3 million this year.
“We could turn this crisis into an opportunity for the Port of Subic,” said Pascual, who noted that collections this January already amounted to P30 million. Last year’s biggest monthly collection was P29 million in July and August.
Pascual added that the slowdown in the shipping industry has also brought unexpected income to Subic—from shipping lines that laid by their vessels here to wait out the recession.
Pascual said as of last count, 22 vessels sidelined are now in Subic Bay, and bringing in some P6 million in additional monthly income to the SBMA.
revenue collections by Subic seaport totaled P276.24 million in 2008, a record 26.6-percent increase from P218.2 million posted in 2007.
The revenue also represented a 21-percent increase over the P228.21-million target for 2008.
SBMA senior deputy administrator for operations Ferdinand Hernandez said in the report that several “astute management initiatives” helped bring about the seaport’s “stellar performance.”
These include raising the processing fee and the SBMA share on cargo handling, a proposal approved by the SBMA board in April 2008; and revoking oil trader Philippine Coastal Corp.’s exemption from payment of wharfage and berthing fees.
The SBMA seaport department also convinced Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Corp., as well as its local subsidiary HHIC-Phil, which operates the $1.6-billion Subic shipyard, to promptly pay storage and wharfage fees, Hernandez said.
He explained that big-ticket firms in Subic, like Hanjin, Coastal, APL and Glenn Defense, have credit lines with the SBMA as a way of enticing them to locate in this free port.
Hernandez said Subic seaport’s revenue-collection efforts resulted in incomes of P68.91 million from vessel charges, or 4 percent over the 2008 target; P109.24 million from cargo charges, or 7 percent over the target; P40 million in SBMA share, or 14 percent over the target; P20.61 million in processing fees, or 38 percent over the target; P27.53 million in lease rentals, or 1,217 percent over the target; and P9.92 million in other charges, or 30 percent over the target.
Seaport officials said the surge in Subic seaport revenue last year proved that there is life for Subic after Executive Order 156, which banned the importation of used vehicles. But it was an anxiety-filled year, nevertheless.
“Aside from the fact that 2007 was a tall order to follow, as it was the year that the seaport department registered a record high of 19.6-percent growth in revenue, 2008 was also the year that the full impact of the implementation of EO 156 was supposed to [have been] felt,” Hernandez said.
“To complicate matters, the global financial crisis has begun to show its face during the second half of the year. But against these odds, the Seaport Department, for the second year in a row, recorded an all time high in revenue,” Hernandez added.
Retired Navy Capt. Perfecto Pascual, who heads the SBMA seaport department, said 2008 could have been a disastrous year were it not for the fiscal reforms that overrode the effects of EO 156.
Pascual said his department made a slow start, posting a 20-percent drop in revenues for the first quarter of 2008, mainly due to Maersk Shipping Line’s decreased operations and eventual pullout.
But starting second quarter, he added, there was a surge in revenue because of the effective implementation of the department’s Q4-2007 plans and programs.
In particular, Pascual said the revocation of Coastal’s exemption from vessel and cargo charges resulted in P3 million worth of additional revenue each month. The April 2008 startup operation of the 300,000-TEU New Container Terminal (NCT-1), meanwhile, brought some P4.3 million monthly.
However, Pascual said the economic slowdown that began last year still left a 20-percent shortage on bulk/break-bulk cargoes compared with 2007 records.
He added that the SBMA hopes to fill this gap with Hanjin’s continuous importation of heavy equipment and steel products that are expected to increase by 172 percent this year.
The SBMA Seaport year-end report, likewise, indicated that total export and import transactions in Subic fell by 19.4 percent last year to 29,730 from 36,451 in 2007.
Ship calls posted a modest 6.3- percent growth—1,893 compared with 1,781 in 2007. Projection for 2009 is 2,052, with total tonnage of 15 million.
Because of this year’s economic slowdown, Pascual added that Subic now forecasts a smaller volume of containerized cargo—from a total of 29,370 TEUs in 2008 to 28,551 TEUs this year.
In terms of non-containerized cargo, this year’s forecast is 2.19 million metric tons compared with the 2008 record of 1.87 MT.
Despite the global downturn, Pascual said the SBMA seaport department still expects revenue of about P316.3 million this year.
“We could turn this crisis into an opportunity for the Port of Subic,” said Pascual, who noted that collections this January already amounted to P30 million. Last year’s biggest monthly collection was P29 million in July and August.
Pascual added that the slowdown in the shipping industry has also brought unexpected income to Subic—from shipping lines that laid by their vessels here to wait out the recession.
Pascual said as of last count, 22 vessels sidelined are now in Subic Bay, and bringing in some P6 million in additional monthly income to the SBMA.