The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) will put up off-dock container yards in other economic zones after seeing the successful operation of the recently opened Cavite Economic Zone (CEZ) container yard (CY).
“If the off-dock CY in CEZ is successful, then it must be beneficial for other locators,” PEZA deputy director general Tereso Panga told PortCalls in a text message.
“With an off-dock CY inside the zone, locators can enjoy 40% savings on trucking costs alone,” Panga noted.
Better truck planning, just-in-time deliveries, and a readily available area for the return of empty containers are some of the additional benefits of an off-dock CY, he added.
“It’s even the shipping lines that urge our locators to return their empties to the ecozone CY to save on detention charges,” Panga further said.
“Moreover, locators are able to help decongest the ports and even road traffic in Manila,” Panga pointed out.
The PEZA executive said they plan to replicate the CEZ CY at the Laguna Technopark, Light and Industry Science Park, Lima Technology Center, and First Philippine Industrial Park.
However, he said there is no timeline yet for the establishment of other CYs in other ecozones, and added that PEZA will “leave it up to the private ecozone developers to choose their own CY operator.”
The CEZ container yard, which has a capacity of 4,500 twenty-foot-equivalent units, is being operated by IRS Eastern since August 1 for the exclusive use of the ecozone’s locators.
Opening of CYs inside ecozones is one of the measures PEZA has implemented to prevent its locators from leaving after their raw materials were trapped in Manila due to the port congestion.
PEZA locators account for about 75% of the country’s total commodity exports.
CCP empty container depot
Meanwhile, the government’s plan to put up an off dock container yard for repositioning of empties in a 10-hectare space within the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex may not materialize in the very short term.
The project will require an estimated P43 million and 1.5 months to complete, according to Philippine Ports Authority general manager Juan Sta Ana.
As for how the project will be funded, Sta Ana told PortCalls in a text message, government is still “looking for alternatives.”
He said PPA is also “looking for an operator who will likely operate it under narrow operating hours.”
Likewise being considered, the PPA chief said, is an “idle area adjacent to MICT (Manila International Container Terminal) berth, approximately six hectares, for immediate development. ICTSI (International Container Terminal Services, Inc) was given the go signal already.” – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of Victor Habbick at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
