Global port operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) is allotting US$25 million in additional working capital to continue its domestic and foreign expansion projects in 2018.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ICTSI said its Board of Directors on December 29 approved and authorized the allocation of a portion of the group’s unappropriated retained earnings amounting to $25 million for these undertakings.
The budget will be used to construct Berth 7 at its flagship operation, Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), among others.
ICTSI said Berth 7 will be expanded as part of the concession agreement for the company to develop, operate, and manage MICT. In 2016, MICT hit its milestone of 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), triggering a multibillion-peso capacity improvement commitment to the Philippine Ports Authority for the port operator to commission five additional post-Panamax quay cranes along with corresponding equipment, and to build at least another berth by 2019.
The 2018 budget will also be used to expand the group’s terminal at the Port of Manzanillo in Mexico. The group, through subsidiary Contecon Manzanillo S.A. de C.V., has a concession to develop and operate the second specialized container terminal (TEC-II) at the Port of Manzanillo.
Another continuing project by the group is the expansion of Puerto Cortés in Honduras, in which its subsidiary, Operadora Poruaria Centroamericana, has a contract to design, finance, construct, maintain, operate, and expand the specialized container and general cargo terminal for 29 years.
ICTSI will also continue to enlarge its operations in Umm Qasr in Iraq. The port operator has a contract with the General Company for Ports of Iraq to operate, develop, and expand container facilities in the Port of Umm Qasr.
ICTSI develops, manages, and operates container terminals with a capacity range of 50,000 to 2.5 million TEUs per year. It has an experience record that spans five continents and continues to pursue container terminal opportunities around the world.
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