COSCO To Build $5 Billion Logistics Hub

COSCO is "reconfiguring" the project and may break up the plan, separating the shipyard from the logistics hub because the original choices of Subic and Sangley Point, both deepwater ports on Luzon Island, cannot provide the required contiguous land

Chinese Shipping Giant To Build $5 Billion Logistics Hub In The Philippines

Paul Icamina - AHN News Writer

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - A Chinese shipping giant will proceed with its plans to put up a logistics and shipping hub in the Philippines, but this time in a more cautious manner.

China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co. (COSCO), proponent of the $5 billion hub in the Philippines, is wary after the cancellation of the bribe-tainted national broadband project with a China's ZTE Corp. that has since been canceled by the Philippine government, Francis Chua, Philippine special envoy on trade and investments, said on Tuesday.

COSCO is "reconfiguring" the project and may break up the plan, separating the shipyard from the logistics hub, he told Malaya newspaper.

This is because the original choices of Subic and Sangley Point, both deepwater ports on Luzon Island, cannot provide the required contiguous land, Chua pointed out.

COSCO would require a few hundred hectares to accommodate the industrial zone and integrate it with the shipbuilding site, he added. Other areas being considered are Bataan and Quezon provinces in Luzon and a small island in the south.

Headquartered in Beijing, COSCO is a $17 billion corporation and is the world's second largest shipping company in terms of carriage

COSCO has 770 vessels with a combined tonnage of 47 million dead-weight tons.

Founded in 1961, COSCO is a $17 billion international giant specializing in shipping and modern logistics, serving as a shipping agency and providing with services in freight forwarding, shipbuilding, ship repairing, terminal operation, trade, financing, real estate and Information Technology.

Subsidiaries in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin, Qingdao, Dalian, Xiamen and Hong Kong operate container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and specialized carriers serving 1,300 ports in more than 160 countries.

COSCO is represented in the country by COSCO Philippines Shipping Inc., a joint venture between COSCO Freight Agency Investment Ltd. under COSCO ( Hong Kong) Group Ltd. and Bantayog Ocean Shipping, Inc.