INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) is definitely not interested in bidding for the New Container Terminal (NCT)-2 when Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) auctions the terminal next month.
“Our current capacity in Subic is enough as of the moment,” ICTSI president and chief executive Enrique Razon said in an interview at the sidelines of the company’s recent stockholders’ meeting.
“We are not keen on bidding for NCT-2 but nonetheless, we will have to look at the bid documents and decide from there if we are going to bid,” Razon added.
ICTSI, through its Subic subsidiary Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC), owns the concession for NCT-1, which will be fully operational soon.
SBITC has allotted P473 million for NCT-1, mainly for the construction of an administration office, motor pool/engineering office, truck holding area, refueling station, and field office.
The management and operations of NCT-2 is being auctioned for 25 years, renewable for another 25, through a competitive international bidding.
The SBMA expects operations of NCT-2 to further boost the port’s breakbulk business, swelling by 40% annually since three years ago. SBMA has invested $80 million into NCT-2.
NCT-2 has a capacity of 300,000 TEUs, expandable to 600,000 TEUs. The facility has potential annual revenues of $6 million, including wharfage fees.
The annual lease for the port, which has a lifespan of 50 years, will be enough to shoulder the $60-million loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation used to partly fund the project.
