In his March 17 column, Neal Cruz stated in part that the facilities of Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) in its Batangas Port “are limited and cannot handle more cargoes. The contract with ATI specifies that it should expand on the fourth year. It is now beyond the fourth year.”
This is incorrect technically, contractually and philosophically.
Batangas Port handled 11,398 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) last year, or only 3.8 percent of its capacity. This means 96.2 percent of capacity is still available and very large amounts of cargo can still be absorbed.
The port is growing well, as volumes surged 120 percent in the last six months. Even if we take an aggressive projection of 200-percent growth this year, that will still leave 88.6 percent in available capacity.
Regarding equipment expansion, a quay crane can handle up to 180,000 TEU annually. We have two in Batangas. We can thus handle up to 360,000 TEU each year without adding. This is in excess of the entire market size of Calabarzon. This is why only two were specified in our 2010 concession.
The same goes for yard cranes: two cranes feeding each quay crane. This is the normal industry ratio and there is no concession requirement to add more. The equipment numbers can stay the same for the duration of the concession and we will still meet our contractual conditions.
ATI is not complacent, however. If our shipping line customers feel more cranes are needed, we will put them there, concession obligation or not. The customer comes first always.
ATI has as a shareholder DP World with considerable international procurement strengths. DP World operates the largest portfolio of terminals in the world, with over 60 ports handling close to 60 million TEU. Our offering is the partnership between Filipino management and the best international operator in the world.
Finally, the column assumed that shipping lines decide port calls based on the available port facilities. They do not. While it is true that facilities need to be present and adequate, it is never the primary driver. Ships call where the population is and where the economic activity is. When enough locators or companies demand a call, then the ships will come. ATI has delivered, and will continue to deliver a world-class gateway alternative to Manila, ready for the sustainable growth we are now seeing come through in Calabarzon.
—ANDREW HOAD,
executive VP-Technical,
Asian Terminals Inc.