ICTSI Subic on Growth Path
International Container Terminal Services, Inc.’s (ICTSI) new Container Freight Station (CFS) at the Subic Bay Freeport is at the forefront of ensuring the faster movement of goods in the Northern and Central Luzon markets.
The two regions continue to grow, driven by industrial centers like Subic, Clark, Bataan, and Tarlac.
Launched last year, the CFS is one of Subic Bay International Corp.’s (SBITC) value-added services. The CFS, envisioned to serve as a regional distribution center (RDC), makes the more efficient movement of goods possible because of its quicker clearing periods compared to other RDCs. It saves time, cuts costs, thereby helping improve margins for companies doing business with other countries.
“The CFS is a multi-user logistics facility especially beneficial for the growing e-commerce and m-commerce markets such as businesses looking into Amazon style same day delivery services into major urban areas in Region 3 and certain parts of the Greater Manila Area. Big box retailers can likewise use the CFS as the consolidated centers for their Northern and Central Luzon stores,” says Roberto Locsin, head of SBITC.
The CFS has allotted areas for import and export, dangerous goods, and customs inspection. It can expand double its capacity and is capable of stuffing and stripping eight containers simultaneously. It is the first and only facility of its kind in Central Luzon.
“Luzon businesses can benefit from SBITC’s direct services to all of the major intra-Asia ports which provides access to the rest of the world. Many of the same vessels that call Manila now call Subic and in many cases, transit times have improved to the same destinations,” he adds.
Recently, Evergreen Marine Corp., Taiwan’s largest shipping company, launched its Korea-Taiwan-Philippines (KTP) service in Subic and included ICTSI’s New Container Terminals (NCT) 1 and 2 to its port rotation. The service plies the ports of Incheon and Kwang Yang, South Korea; Kaoshiung, Taiwan; and Batangas and Subic Bay, Philippines.
During the inaugural call of KTP service’s 1,440-TEU boxship Cape Fulmar, the two quay cranes of SBITC handled close to 400 twenty foot equivalent units (TEU). Each averaged 40 and 33 moves per hour.
Currently, SBITC has on-boarded three of the top cargo consolidators in the Philippines for the Subic CFS: ECU Worldwide, International Consolidators Phils. Inc. (ICPI), and Keihin Everett Forwarding Co. Inc. SBITC welcomed these consolidators and other interested parties to develop the LCL (less container load) business in the region.