International Container Terminal Services Inc. said Thursday it completed the yard expansion of the Manila International Container Terminal ahead of the anticipated increase in container traffic during the holiday season.
The port operator said Yard 7, a part of MICT’s P5-billion expansion project, added substantial capacity to the terminal, which could now handle 2.75 million twenty-foot equivalent units, up from 2.5 million TEUs.
ICTSI said the new yard at MICT would address the growing volumes at the Port of Manila.
“This not only addresses the current demand of shipping line clients and the port community for terminal services but also of anticipated growth,” the port operator owned by businessman Enrique Razon Jr. said.
Complementary to the new yard is the development of an inland container depot in Laguna, covering 21 hectares, where ICTSI earmarked $30 million.
ICTSI recently acquired six new rubber tired gantries, which may be deployed at either the MICT or ICTSI’s Subic operations, depending on demand.
The company also plans to expand Subic Port in anticipation of increased port utilization by 2015.
Port utilization in Subic is expected to hit 21 percent by 2015, which will also improve the usage of ICTSI’s two-berth facility within the free port area administered by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
ICTSI also acquired new container handling equipment worth $50 million in preparation for the operational launch of its port in Columbia next year.
ICTSI said unit Sociedad Puerto Industrial de Aguadulce S.A. recently received four per post Panamax quay cranes and five rubber tired gantries for Aguadulce Multi-User Container Terminal at the Port of Buenaventura.
ICTSI posted a net income of $143.7 million in the first nine months, up from $142.3 million a year ago. Gross revenues from port operations amounted to $792 million in the January-to-September period, up 2 percent from $779.2 million in the same period last year.
ICTSI handled consolidated volume of 5.77 million TEUs in the first nine months of the year, or 7 percent more than 5.41 million TEUs handled in the same period in 2014.