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Exports and imports at Subic Bay Freeport grew 48% and 29%, respectively, in the first quarter of 2021 as compared to the same quarter in 2020
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The growth in imports was boosted by the admission of petroleum products into Subic while exports grew with the continuous operations of locators during the period
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Containerized cargoes handled by Subic port in the first quarter of 2021 rose 10.34%
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Non-containerized cargo volumes and ship calls declined 22.6% and 20%, respectively
Exports, imports, and containerized cargo traffic at Subic Bay Freeport improved by double digits in the first quarter of 2021, according to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).
Exports amounted to US$321.61 million in the first quarter of this year, 48% higher than the $217.3 million recorded in the same period last year, SBMA chairman and administrator Wilma Eisma said in a statement.
Imports likewise grew 29% to $462.5 million from $359.2 million last year, boosted by the admission of petroleum products into Subic.
“The growth in the first quarter of 2021 is very much significant when matched against last year’s records because we were not yet in a pandemic in the first two and a half months last year,” Eisma pointed out.
“This means there are more winners than there were losers in Subic despite COVID-19, and that the SBMA’s thrust to make Subic enterprises more adaptive to changes under the new normal is also paying off,” Eisma added.
Japanese manufacturer Sanyo Denki Philippines, Inc. emerged as the top Subic locator in exports value in the first quarter of 2021, according to figures from the SBMA Trade Facilitation and Compliance Department.
Sanyo Denki, which operates three factories at the Subic Techno Park that produce uninterrupted power supply units, cooling fans, servo amplifiers, and stepping motors, posted a freight-on-board (FOB) value of $79.5 million. This was almost 25% of the total exports from Subic from January to March 2021.
Sanyo Denki was among the very few Subic locators allowed to continuously operate under enhanced community quarantine conditions to build cooling fans for the ventilators that were used for COVID-19 patients.
Completing the top 10 Subic locators were lockmaker Tong Lung Phils. Metal Industry Co. with $26 million; sports, athletic goods and outdoor bag manufacturer Philippines Easepal Technology Ltd., $25.2 million; ultrasonic sensor manufacturer Nicera Philippines Inc., $23.6 million; wood processor Juken Sangyo Phils. Corp., $17.16 million; Orica Phils. Inc., which operates a regional manufacturing hub in Limay, Bataan, $13.9 million; computer builder Wistron Info Comm (Phils) Corp., $13.9 million; high-end eyewear producer Lindberg Ag-A4- Branch, $11.07 million; branded shoe manufacturer Da Tian Subic Shoes Inc., $10.2 million; and precision electronic equipment maker Nidec Subic Phils. Corp., $8.8 million.
Eisma said the export value generated by the top 10 locators already comprised 71.4% of total exports from Subic in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, containerized cargoes handled by Subic port in the first quarter of 2021 rose 10.34% to 60,759 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 55,065 TEUs in the same quarter last year, according to data provided by SBMA to PortCalls.
Non-containerized cargo volumes, however, dropped 22.6% to 1.636 million metric tons (MT) from 2.113 million MT in the first quarter of last year.
Ship calls likewise declined 20% to 470 vessels from 588 vessels as both foreign and domestic ship calls went down.
Domestic ship calls dropped 32.6% to 157 from 233, while foreign ship calls decreased 11.8% to 313 from 355.
