SMC eyes P60-B industrial estate, coal plant in Bataan

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) may invest over P60 billion for the development of an industrial estate, the expansion of its feeds manufacturing facility and the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Mariveles, Bataan.

Deogracias G.P. Custodio, chair and administrator of the Authority of Freeport Area of Bataan (Afab), disclosed that an SMC subsidiary called Efare Investment Holdings Inc. has secured an approval to invest P2.59 billion for the development of a 500-hectare industrial estate there. The amount would be used for land development and road construction, among others.

SMC’s proposed greenfield industrial estate would expand Afab’s regulatory coverage to about 7,500 hectares from the previous 7,000 hectares.

“Under the charter of our freeport, we are allowed to expand within the municipality of Mariveles, and so, the areas outside the proclaimed area of the freeport can also be incorporated. Efare wanted to convert this 500 ha into an industrial park … The company has already started fencing the area. Within the year, it would start earth moving,” Custodio said in a briefing Tuesday.

He said locators could be firms with agriculture-linked businesses. “But our inclination was that (SMC’s) different companies would put satellite operations within Mariveles.”

What has been disclosed, so far, was a proposal for the construction of a power plant by one of the conglomerate’s subsidiaries, Custodio said. He said the power plant, which would have a capacity of 600 megawatts, would be constructed within the industrial estate.

“The power plant is already in the works. The San Miguel group already has coal power plants and now [it was] looking at something similar to put up [within the planned industrial estate],” he said.

He said the plant could cost approximately P60 billion. “This is a big plant but [SMC] may have planned locators that would have huge electricity requirements. I think the company intended to sell to the grid as well.”

He said there were lots of possibilities for Efare’s industrial estate. “We will sit down with them to see what their priority areas are.”

Custodio added that SMC, through San Miguel Purefoods Inc., would be investing P2.2 billion to more than double the capacity of an existing BMEG feeds manufacturing facility in Bataan. The existing facility is currently registered under the Board of Investments, but the expansion project, located within the freeport proclaimed area, has been listed under Afab.