INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services, Inc (ICTSI) has an inside track on landing the 25-year management and operations contract for the Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT), according to a ranking official of the Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA), the port’s present operator.
According to the source, ICTSI bested in almost all criteria the two other bidders—Harbour Centre Port Terminals, Inc and its Singaporean partner, and Asian Terminals, Inc.
Amer Asia and Maersk, through A.P. Moeller Terminals, failed to submit their bids for the terminal on January 28.
“From the looks of it, ICTSI has an inside track based on preliminary results. However, we still have a long way to go to March 31, and things could change,” the PortCalls source said. PIA will award the contract to the winning bidder on March 31.
The minimum fixed concession fee for the management and operation of the terminal is P2.145 billion. According to the bidding terms of reference, bidders should have a minimum paid-up capital of P2 million.
The bidding is the third attempt of PIA to privatize MCT, but the first since PIA secured a permit for MTC to handle international cargoes of non-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.
