Truckers halt
‘holiday’; old rates apply for now
NORTH Harbor truckers have called off on
Monday a “trucking holiday” and have instead returned
to the negotiating table with their key clients – the
distribution managers and carriers.
For now, the old rate of P5,100 per TEU charged by the Integrated
North Harbor Truckers Association, Allied Transport Group,
and the WGA Trucking Association—collectively known
as the Alliance of North Harbor Trucking Association—applies.
In an interview on Monday, the truckers said they have decided
to go back to the negotiating table to prevent delays in the
movement of goods and prevent misunderstanding with the Supply
Chain Management Association of the Philippines and the Philippine
Liner Shipping Association (PLSA), its key clients.
“As of Monday, we are back to full commercial operations
but this does not mean that we are accepting their proposal,”
the truckers explained.
The PLSA proposal is P5,615 per TEU as opposed to ANHTA’s
P5,915 per TEU ANHTA was to have increased rates beginning
April 16.
“We will still continue to push our earlier proposal
to increase our rate by some 16% as we believe that their
(counter) offer is unjustified,” the truckers added.
Since last year, North Harbor trucking operators have been
clamoring for increases due to the impact of higher costs,
specifically fuel and spare parts, and the appreciation of
the peso.
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Local carriers stick to trucking
rate proposal
The Philippine Liner Shipping Association
(PLSA) is not backing down on what it thinks should be the
new North Harbor trucking rates. However, the association
expressed willingness to rethink the 10% retention fee, a
source of complaint by truckers.
PLSA said its trucking rate counterproposal of P5,615 per
TEU to the Alliance of North Harbor Trucking Association’s
(ANHTA) P5,915 per TEU is what the economy will allow at this
time.
ANHTA’s proposal represents a 16% hike from current
rates of P5,100 per TEU per 40km roundtrip.
The carriers believe their proposed increase should, in fact,
have been limited to 8% but this was bumped up to 10% as a
goodwill gesture.
“They (truckers) are most welcome to negotiate with
us regarding the 10% retention fee being asked by carriers,”
a ranking PLSA official who requested anonymity told PortCalls.
“Besides, not all carriers ask for a retention fee so
truckers cannot use this as an excuse to increase their rates
by 16%,” the official added.
Some shipping lines charge the retainer’s fee as some
form of payment for providing loads to truckers. The fee is
automatically deducted by shipping lines even before truckers
get their full payment.
Aside from the increase, truckers also want an automatic rate
adjustment scheme once fuel costs go up more than 10% or conversely,
if costs decrease 10%.
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Lorenzo Shipping posts 31% income rise
LOCAL cargo carrier Lorenzo Shipping Corp.
(LSC) posted a 31% hike in net income last year to P52.23
million, thanks mostly to cost reduction and an active door-to-door
and less-than-container load (LCL) business.
“The trend of increased volume of door-to-door shipments
and less-than container load business or LCL is gaining foothold
in the market, serving mostly small and medium-sized businesses,”
LSC said in its annual report.
Freight revenue was, however, lower by 0.6% to P1.33 billion
from P1.34 billion due to reduced vessel capacity as a result
of drydocking. This brought cost of services down to P871.26
million from the previous year’s P865 million although
terminal expenses rose to P240.3 million from P233.62 million.
Net property and equipment assets increased 30% to P1.61 billion
from P1.24 billion in 2006 to due to additional costs related
to drydocking, and equipment and cargo-handling facilities.
Last February, the company sold its ageing vessel, the MV
Lorcon Mindanao, to Coral Bay Maritime Inc Nevis for about
$2 million.
LSC also entered into a joint service with sister firm National
Marine Corp (NMC) to service the Visayas and Mindanao markets
last year.
Shippers of manufactured goods, raw materials, reefer and
other chilled products from Cebu, Cagayan De Oro, Davao and
General Santos are seen to propel the new service,
expected to boost cargo volume for both LSC and NMC by 20%.
“The joint service… will also give us more leverage
as we will be able to offer more trips using both ships of
LSC and NMC compared to our existing service in such routes,”
the company said.
Meanwhile, LSC mother firm Magsaysay Maritime Corp (MMC) has
appointed Roberto Umali as its president, two years after
MMC acquired a controlling stake in LSC.
Umali is also the president and operations chief of the Magsaysay
Transport and Logistics Group which also manages NMC, Islas
Tankers, Batangas Bay Carriers, and Marine Fuels Philippines,
Inc.
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2GO to keep Boracay cool
TOTAL logistics solutions provider 2GO is
expanding its cold chain services to Boracay Island.
The company operates temporary cold chain facilities in General
Santos and in Pier 4 of the North Harbor pending completion
of its permanent cold chain structure in Pier 18 also in the
North Harbor.
2GO president Sabin Aboitiz said almost all hotels in Boracay,
the country’s top tourist destination, have signified
interest in using 2GO for their logistics needs.
“We are set to launch our cold chain business in Boracay
sometime next month to cater to the less-than-container load
(LCL), loose cargo and other kinds of goods,” Aboitiz
said.
“We are also marketing the facility to almost all the
hotels in the island… as we believe they are finding
it difficult to get their shipments like vegetable, meat,
fruits and others on time,” Aboitiz explained
The current practice is for hotel operators to bring in the
supplies themselves.
Initially, 2GO is looking at handling at least four reefer
containers or about 100 cubic meters of loose cargo a week.
Last year, 2GO had a soft opening of its cold chain business
in General Santos with an initial investment of P2 million.
Its partners for the venture are Reefer Van Specialist Inc
and Reefer Trucks Specialist Inc.
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Batangas port case hampers release of P500M
under PPA bond float
THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is requesting
the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to release the
remaining P500 million under its bond floatation program despite
legal wranglings at Batangas Port.
DBP is withholding the release of the funds, citing concerns
that the PPA will be unable to pay the amount should the Supreme
Court (SC) uphold its earlier decision ordering the port agency
to pay P11 billion to P14 billion (including interest and
penalties) more for contested lots affected by the Batangas
port development project.
“We already received P1.5 billion out of the P2-billion
bond float. (Underwriter) FMIC (First Metro Investment Corp)
has backtracked and so we will ask DBP to release the P500
million,” PPA general manager Atty. Oscar Sevilla said.
“The issue on Batangas should not be taken into consideration
considering that it is still pending before the Supreme Court,”
Sevilla explained.
The PPA will use the amount for the modernization of six priority
ports namely the wharf at Cagayan de Oro, Sasa Wharf port
expansion, Iloilo Container Port Complex, wharf in Ozamiz
Oriental and phase II of the wharf expansion at the Zamboanga,
and the General Santos City port expansion.
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OSG: No stopping growth for tanker business
INTERNATIONAL tanker operator Overseas Shipholding
Group, Inc. (OSG) sees the tanker business remaining strong
even outgrowing other modes of transport by sea in the next
three to five years. It will also remain unaffected by a possible
US recession or a capacity glut.
In a recent interview during his visit to the Philippines
for the inauguration of OSG’s new office in Makati,
OSG president and chief executive Morten Arntzen said now
is the right time to invest heavily on the international tanker
business.
“We are now in the best years of the industry and we
expect 2008 to be even better than 2007 as our volume is up
in all segments,” Arntzen said, noting that the next
three to five years will be as good as the last five where
business and growth were at their peak.
The OSG chief, however, declined to provide volume and growth
projections.
“We are seeing no slowdown in the business just like
the other modes and the need to even grow bigger in terms
of fleet is inevitable as oil is a major product needed worldwide,”
Arntzen said.
Tanker freight rates, he added, will also remain strong this
year to about $90,000 per day compared to $40,000 per day
last year due to more volatility.
The Philippines is seen as one of the growth areas for the
three- to five-year period and this early, OSG is planning
to deploy compressed natural gas (CNG) vessels as demand for
CNG in the country will be high in the near future.
OSG is the second-largest publicly traded tanker company in
the world. Currently, it has a total of 106 ships and 41 newbuildings.
The company is set to accept at least 10 ships — a mix
of liquefied natural gas carriers, crude carriers, gas tankers
and US-flag business tankers — starting this year to
further tighten its grip on the tanker market.
An all-Filipino crew mans 52 ships and a modest percentage
of the 10 newbuildings will also be manned by Filipinos. OSG
expects to employ 500 seafarers starting this year for the
newbuildings.
Recently, OSG invested $9 million to acquire its own building
in the Philippines as part of expansion in the country. The
building will house facilities for its local manpower training
such as a high-tech training center with simulation equipment.
As proof of its commitment to invest in the Philippines, OSG
has named some of its vessels after Philippine islands. Two
have been delivered and named Luzon and Visayas; others are
to be named Palawan, Cebu, and Mindoro.
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INS forges ahead in Iloilo but defers WebCPRS
deployment
CUSTOMS value-added service provider Intercommerce
Network Services (INS) has expanded its operations in Iloilo
but temporarily shelved the rollout of services in Zamboanga
after the Bureau of Customs (BOC) encountered problems that
will affect the flow of documents to be submitted electronically.
INS will provide both air and sea ports in Iloilo electronic
submission of entries like what it provides in the four of
the country’s major gateways—Manila International
Container Port, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Port of
Manila and the South Harbor.
“We are now servicing Iloilo but deferred our expansion
to Zamboanga due to problems beyond our control. Nonetheless,
we are set to go once the BOC issues its green light for Zamboanga,”
INS president Francis Lopez told PortCalls.
“We are also deferring the deployment of our WebCPRS
(Client Profile Registration System) pending the issuance
of a final order and technical specification from the BOC
to avoid misinformation and confusion on BOC CPRS requirements,
documents, forms and procedures,” Lopez said.
INS is evaluating conditions in General Santos and will be
ready with a system in time for the BOC rollout of Phase I
in the area.
Recently, INS began operations without glitch in the ports
of Limay in Bataan, Subic Bay, and Cagayan de Oro. The same
ease is expected in Iloilo, Zamboanga and General Santos because
no displacement of workers at entry encoding centers will
take place.
Cebu, Mactan, Davao and Clark are already being serviced in
full.
Aside from expanding to other ports, INS is completing its
technical testing with five banks — Banco de Oro, Bank
of the Philippine Islands, Land Bank of the Philippines, Metro
Bank and RCBC — for the payment of customs duties and
taxes (CDT) via debit transfer. Recently, the company inked
an agreement with Citibank for CDT payments.
Based on its schedule, the BOC will roll out the electronic
submission of formal entry, warehousing entry, selectivity/hold
and alert, electronic payment system and online release in
the first two quarters of the year; the full migration to
electronic process is eyed by the second half of 2008.
The BOC is tapping the services of VASPs to facilitate trade.
VASP duties encompass lodgment of import declarations such
as consumption, warehousing, transshipment, and informal,
lodgment of export declarations; transmission of raw materials’
liquidation information, and transmission of surety bonds
information.
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