THE Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) expects to award the 25-year management and operation contract for Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) on March 31, 2007.
PIA is fast tracking the privatization of the port in a bid to attract more international callers and increase cargo volume, according to its Port Management Department.
Eligible bidders which showed up at the pre-bid conference last week included partners International Container Terminal Services, Inc (ICTSI) and Asian Terminals, Inc (ATI), a joint venture between Harbour Centre Port Terminals, Inc and its Singaporean partner, international shipping firm Maersk, and Amer Asia.
The opening of bids is scheduled on January 28.
The privatization is PIA’s third attempt, the previous ones having been declared failures due to technicality. The bidders then also included ICTSI and ATI. Both submitted non-conforming bids along with three other bidders which were later on disqualified.
This time around, PIA is dangling an extra incentive to bidders. The port has secured a permit to handle international cargoes of non-locators, boosting its cargo and revenue potential. Previously, the port could only accommodate cargoes of its locators.
Located along the Macalajar Bay in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, MCT is seen as a catalyst to economic and industrial development of Metro Cagayan De Oro and Northern Mindanao.
MCT’s Phase I, which has an annual capacity of 270,000 TEUs, is designed to be operated exclusively for full container and semi-container vessels. It is equipped with two quayside gantry cranes with a productivity of 30 moves per hour and four rubber-tired gantries. It features a six-hectare container yard with a maximum stacking capacity of 8,000 TEUs at any one time, accepting vessels up to 30,000 deadweight tons. It also has a reefer storage area with a total of 262 receptacles.
Last year, MCT handled 45,000 to 50,000 TEUs, 25-30% more than in 2006 when it handled 38,000 TEUs. Local shippers supplied the bulk of the traffic.
The terminal has four regular callers: Maersk, National Marine Corp, Lorenzo Shipping, and MCC Transport, a joint venture between the Aboitiz Group and Maersk.
