The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has extended by three more days the free storage period for export containers to entice more shippers to use Subic port.
The extension – from seven to 10 days — took effect last April 20, and was approved on April 16 during the SBMA board meeting, Jerome Martinez, SBMA Seaport Department general manager, informed general manager Roberto Locsin of port operator Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC) in a letter.
Martinez noted the computation of the new charges is not retroactive.
The free storage period for import shipments is also 10 days.
In another development, SBMA last month advised that the 90% discount being offered to container ships calling at New Container Terminals 1 and 2 since October last year has been reduced to 50%. This is in keeping with SBMA Board Resolution No. 14-09-5183 issued on September 25, 2014, which decreed that the 90% discount will be subject to a reduction to 50% after the first six months.
The discount for port fees has been reduced to 50% or from US$0.081 per gross register tonnage (GRT) per day to $0.040 per GRT per day and the discount for berthing fees from $0.039 per GRT to $0.020 per GRT per day.
SBMA provided the 90% discount as part of government measures to move some cargoes to the ports of Subic and Batangas to help decongest Manila ports.
SBMA chairman Roberto Garcia, in a presentation during the recent 2nd Subic Bay Maritime Conference, said Subic port rates are around 80% lower than previous rates.
Garcia said the target volume for Subic port for this year is 120,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), following the positive performance in 2014 where the Northern Luzon hub handled 77,177 TEUs, its highest ever.
SBITC’s Locsin, for his part, said SBITC is undertaking productivity enhancements to meet the expected business growth, and has ordered two Kalmar rubber-tired gantries to be delivered by November, and 16 terminal tractors due beginning July with the last batch coming in by the end of August. SBITC has also ordered six reach stackers and three empty handlers.
He said SBITC is working closely with stakeholders regarding ancillary services such as container freight stations and a new x-ray area.
Subic port’s monthly volume for the first quarter averaged 10,000 TEUs per month, exceeding expectations, Locsin said, adding they see an uptick in volume in the second half of this year.
Some locators in Central and Northern Luzon said they have transferred part of their Luzon shipments to Subic Port. These companies include Hansa Creation, Inc., San Miguel Brewery, and Atlas Brokerage and Express Padala, Inc.
Recently, SBITC and SBMA also opened a One-Stop Shop for port users in order to reduce the period for processing documents from one day to four hours. The One-Stop Shop houses under one roof operations of the SBMA Seaport Department and the Bureau of Customs, and is just a few steps away from SBITC’s billing department. – Roumina Pablo
