THE country’s leading terminal operators see a brighter business environment after the national elections scheduled on May 10. “Hopefully, after the elections, business will do well.
By then, we can look at what needs to be done in the area of port improvement and expansion,” International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) chairman and president Enrique K. Razon, Jr. said at the sidelines of the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting last week.
He said he expects the Manila International Container Terminal, ICTSI’s flagship project, to exhibit robust growth this year just like other international ports it operates – Tecon Suape, S.A. in Brazil and Baltic Container Terminal in Poland. “We have allotted around $16 million capex for Poland and $12 million for Brazil.
Here in the Philippines, (the capex) will depend on the implementation of security measures required by the United States such as Container Security Initiative and the investment on two x-ray machines,” he said. ICTSI may soon operate another international port – in Trinidad and Tobago, having emerged as the preferred bidder for the project, Razon said.
The company is also hoping to qualify in the bid for a terminal in Angola. Razon said the company will also keep its General Santos port operations at the Makar Wharf under its subsidiary, South Cotabato Integrated Port Services, Inc. (SCIPSI), a statement in response to speculations that ICTSI plans to give up its shares in the southern terminal.
Near-term opportunities. Meanwhile, Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI) chairman Richard D. Barclay, in his address last week to shareholders, said: “We areÉ poised to take advantage, in the very near term, of opportunities that are forthcoming in a better business environment after the elections,” said Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI) chairman Richard D. Barclay in his address last week to shareholders.
The company reported a 7% growth in container traffic last year at its flagship operation, South Harbor, and a 33% hike at the port of Batangas. Barclay said ATI has allotted P350 million for capital expenditures this year for continued improvements at the South Harbor.
