Subic seaport 2009 income to top P490M

SUBIC FREEPORT, Olongapo—The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said on Wednesday it expects to close the year with a P490-million income from seaport operations. This marks a record for the seaport department since 1992, the year when the Subic Bay freeport was established.

SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza said Subic seaport’s earnings from January to November this year already stood at P449.15 million, or about 78 percent more than last year’s total of P252.63 million for the same 11-month period.

With the SBMA seaport department now earning an average of P40.8 million monthly, the 2009 seaport revenue total could easily reach P490 million, Arreza said.

Describing the record surge in seaport income as “unprecedented,” Arreza said this year’s earnings not only breached the agency’s revenue target for 2009, but also surpassed year-on-year figures for the last 16 years.

“This is one record that would be hard to beat even in the next few years,” Arreza added.

Vessel and cargo charges, leases and rentals, processing fees, SBMA shares from joint ventures, and other billings for port users make up the revenue sources in seaport operations here.

Figures released by the SBMA showed that the surge in seaport income started in January this year when it earned P37.6 million, or 167 percent more than the P14.07-million earnings in January 2008.

The positive growth continued all through the following months, with comparative figures rising by 165 percent in February, 209 percent in March, 101 percent in April, and 168 percent in June.

By November this year, total seaport income already exceeded the January-November 2008 income by P196.5 million, said Arreza.

According to SBMA seaport manager Federico Pascual, the Subic seaport has been consistently posting increases in the last four years, recording an income of P181.09 million in 2005, P190.88 million in 2006, P221.39 million in 2007 and P276.24 million in 2008.

Pascual said the rebound began after 2005, when the seaport’s income dipped by 20.39 percent, compared the P227.46 million earned in 2004.

“Since then, seaport operations picked up, especially this year, when the global recession turned out to be an opportunity for the Subic port,” Pascual said.

“In the first six months of 2009 alone, seaport revenue already exceeded the previous year’s 12-month performance,” he added.

Pascual traced the increase in seaport income mainly to the operation of Subic’s New Container Terminal 1 by the Subic Bay International Terminal Corp., as well as to income from vessel lay-ups and wharfage fees for petroleum products, fertilizer and grain imports.

He also said SBMA efforts to aggressively market the Subic port attracted more shippers, importers, brokers and forwarders that brought in increased income.

He added that the SBMA marketing program resulted in a revenue of P60.7 million in June, the highest in the 11-month period, as well as a P51-million collection in March.

Because of the hefty earnings, the SBMA Seaport Department’s 11-month revenue has exceeded its 12-month revenue forecast of P316.3 million by P133 million, or 52 percent, Pascual said. Written by Henry Empeño - businessmirror.com.ph