A 47% surge in container throughput in 2012 powered by exports helped the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) reverse its losses in the previous year, the operator of the freeport zone said.
The Freeport, about three hours from the Philippine capital Manila, handled a total of 36,304 TEUs, up from 27,671 TEU in 2011, but saw non-containerized cargo dropping 15% to 2.213 million metric tons (mmt) from 2.593 mmt.
Exports grew 133% to US$1.927 billion from $826 million, led by the traditional top exporter, the local unit of Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries.
“Our top three exporters in terms of freight on board (FOB) value is led once again by Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction -Philippines (HHIC-Philippines) with $1.189 billion , followed by Sanyo Denki with $144 million and Juken Sangyo, which registered $83 million,” Garcia said.
The higher throughput fueled a reversal in SBMA’s net income to a record P811 million last year from a net loss of P1.113 billion in 2011, SBMA chairman and administrator Roberto Garcia said.
Garcia said 2012 revenues stood at P1.634 billion, 16% higher than the P1.410 billion registered in 2011, while operating expenses declined 7% to P1.006 billion from P1.082 billion.
“The net income after taxes of P811 million is the highest profit in SBMA’s 20-year history,” Garcia said.
He added that revenues from seaport operations rose 19% to P63 million helped by more shipcalls at Subic port and better port operations.
Significant milestones at the freeport were the launch of Vale’s ore transshipment hub and the start of commercial operations of New Container Terminal 2, operated by Subic Bay International Terminal Corporation, a subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services, Inc.
Also last year, SBMA approved the contract and proposal for a super yacht marina project along Argonaut Highway.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs collected P7.62 billion in taxes at the country’s premier freeport last year.
“The combined collections of BIR and BOC here have consistently increased in the last four years, showing growing profitability among freeport-registered locators,” Garcia said.
SBMA records show the two agencies had combined collections in 2008 of P5.28 billion, which increased 6.18% to P5.6 billion in 2009. Their collections climbed further by 19.25% to P6.68 billion in 2010, gained 8.14% to P7.22 billion in 2011, and grew 5.42% to P7.62 billion last year.
The BIR collected a total of P1.29 billion, while the BOC’s Port of Subic posted collections of P6.33 billion for the period January to December 2012.
Photo courtesy of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority
