ICTSI offers Laguna inland terminal as alternative to congested Mla ports

MANILA, Philippines - Razon-led International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) is set to open the country’s first one-stop inland container terminal (ICT) in Calamba, Laguna starting tomorrow.

ICTSI treasury director Arthur Tabuena informed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that the port operator, through subsidiary LGICT, would operate the ICT located in Brgys. Banlic and San Cristobal in Calamba to serve as an extension of the seaport operations of the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).

“Envisioned to be the first of its kind in magnitude and operations, the ICT will be developed as a 24/7 state-of-the-art facility with cutting-edge terminal systems and equipment,” Tabuena said.

The terminal would serve as a regional logistics hub serving and supporting the operations of exporters and importers within and outside the economic zones in the Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon area.

The ICT would be situated on a 21-hectare property about 58 kilometers from Manila and would be strategically located near various economic export zones with an already existing adjacent railroad. A total four hectares of the entire complex is now available for commercial operations.

ICTSI, through subsidiary IW Cargo Handlers Inc., forged a joint venture with Nippon Container Terminals Co. Ltd. (NCT), Transnational Diversified Corp., and NYK- Fil-Japan Shipping Corp. to form LGICT.

LGICT would provide services connected with or incidental to the management or operation of container depots, terminals, yards, and/or freight stations in the Philippines.

NCT became the first container terminal operator in Japan after establishing operations in Tokyo and Kobe in 1967 and has expanded to Kaohsiung, Taiwan through Yu-Tai Engineering Co. Ltd. and in the Philippines through NCT Transnational Corp.

Transnational Diversified Group is a Filipino-owned company founded by J. Roberto Delgado in 1976 and is engaged in logistics, ship management, travel and tourism as well as information and communications technology services.

NYK Fil-Japan Shipping, the flagship company of TDG, is a joint venture between NYK Line of Japan and TDG established in 1976 covering major ports in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

ICTSI develops, manages and operates container terminals in gateway ports in over 20 countries across the Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The listed port operator has earmarked P3 billion to put up the ICT in Laguna and at the same time expand MICT.

About P1.6 billion has been earmarked to bankroll the first phase of the expansion project of MICT through the development of six hectares of new yard space while P1.4 billion would be used to develop the Laguna ICT.

The state-run Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has announced that utilization rate at the ports of Manila is back to normal levels of below 80 percent a year after peaking at 104 percent in end-June as a result of the day-time truck ban imposed by the City Government of Manila that practically limited the movement of cargoes in and out of the ports during nighttime only.