ASIAN TERMINALS, INC. (ATI) wants to renegotiate with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) its existing supplemental contract on South Harbor. "The assumptions made back then are now all wrong.
The focus of the business now is on containerized operations," Jeremy J.L. Rickord, president and chief executive officer of ATI, said at the sidelines of the company’s recent annual stockholders’ meeting. Projections in the original contract focused on general cargo, the volume of which has been down in past years, he said, adding that projections now need to be based on actual volume handled at the South Harbor.
Rickord said the shift in trade practice to containerized cargoes from bulk or general cargoes has been quite evident. Containerized cargoes comprise about 80% of ATI’s overall operations while general cargoes’ total market share declined to 67% from 88-90% in the last five years.
Rickord said ATI’s venture into the domestic passenger terminal and cargo operations with the opening of the Eva Macapagal Super Terminal in 2003 also needs to be considered. "Together with PPA, we are conducting an exercise to identify and evaluate future developments at the South Harbor," he noted.
The exercise will involve validation of actual volume against projection and the creation technical plans to expand facilities for future developments. ATI has hired French consultancy firm Maunsell to conduct the evaluation. Rickord said ATI is set to meet with PPA anytime now to discuss the issue.
ATI wants to spread out the balance of its $300-million commitment to develop the South Harbor to the next contract – an extension covering another 25 years. The terminal operator entered into a contract to develop the South Harbor in 1989. That contract expires in 2013.
