THE Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) has started clearing operations for a 500-hectare lot in preparation for the entry of Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries, Inc. (HHII) in the area.
The clearing operations involve relocation of several informal settlers and are a pre-requisite to HHII’s formal signing of a lease agreement with PIA.
PIA is the developer of a 3,000-hectare area, including the Mindanao Container Terminal in Tagoloan and Villanueva towns in Misamis Oriental.
“We are now concentrating on the area that will be used by Hanjin for its training centers so that the company can start construction,” a PIA source told PortCalls.
“Once completed, we will proceed to clear the main area in time for the signing of the formal lease agreement scheduled in the next couple of months; Hanjin is inclined to start development of the yard within the year,” the source added.
He said Hanjin is committed to spending $1 billion in the area but will invest another $1 billion if the need arises.
The Korean shipbuilder is acquiring the PIA property for the construction of a general manufacturing plant for its shipbuilding facility. The plant is scheduled to start fabricating ships in 2010, and exporting $1.7 billion worth of shipbuilding parts and vessels by 2012.
The Mindanao plant is twice bigger than its shipbuilding complex in Subic, Zambales, fully operational by 2010.
The Subic shipyard is expected to deliver 33 medium-sized container vessels worth almost $3 billion in the next two years. It also recently bagged a $2.2-billion contract to build 21 units of container and capebulk in its Subic shipyard.
