Subic port seen ready for surge in cargo volume

The Subic bay port is well poised to accommodate as much as 30 percent increase in cargo volumes yearly, making it the best alternative port for businesses carrying goods to and from the northern part of Luzon.

“The Subic Bay International Terminal Container (SBITC) can safely handle 20 to 30 percent more cargoes year-on-year in the next few years,” Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chair Roberto V. Garcia said in a statement.

Garcia said since the number of shipping lines calling port at Subic had been increasing steadily since 2014, such levels of volume increases could be expected.

SBITC has a rated capacity of 600,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent containers). There remains a lot of room for a surge in cargo volume, according to SBMA, since containerized cargos that went to Subic in 2015 stood at only 123,510 TEUs, a 60-percent increase from 77,177 TEUs a year ago.

For non-containerized cargos, 7.5 million metric tons of goods were shipped through the port, up 24 percent from 6.1 million MT a year ago.

Because of the upgrades undertaken by the port operators, Subic is now equipped to handle forty-foot equivalent containers (FEUs).

“People think we can’t carry FEUs in Subic. That is wrong. We have the equipment to handle these big boxes from all over the world,” he said.

Garcia said brokers and truckers will not experience any delay in the release of the cargos from the port.

“Some think that it is difficult to get accreditation from us. It is not; it only takes half day. And if the broker and the trucker still cannot finish the paper work within the day, we will still release the cargo. They only have to show proof that they have started the paperwork for accreditation,” he said.