The Sinisian Lemery Batangas Port and Industrial Park Corp. recently broke ground for a billion-peso, six-hectare port and industrial park in Lemery, Batangas, which is seen as a major gateway to Southern Luzon upon its completion in 2021.
In a statement, SLBPIP president and Cohaco Merchandising and Development Corp. general manager Ferdinand Co said that the port and industrial park will be equipped with international and domestic deep port facilities to cater to industrial port and warehousing needs for import and export distribution.
Co added that the facility is intended to address congestion issues in the region as well as meet infrastructure demands by the government's "Build, Build, Build" program.
"The deep port can be up to 30 meters deep and 160 meters wide and can handle even up to a panamax vessel, which is very rare to have in the Philippines,” said Co. “Locators can use that port and use our warehouse for them to be able to import or export."
"If they import, they can use that as advantage–since we're located in Batangas–to distribute to Southern Luzon, Metro Manila or even nearby islands. If Subic Port is strategic for Central Luzon, then we're strategic for Southern Luzon," he added.
Cohaco which is one of the main stakeholders in the projectalso led the groundbreaking for the two anchor locators of the port and industrial park, the Lemery Cement Silo Tank Corp. and Lemery Oil Terminal Corp.
Construction for the three projects are expected to start by the first quarter of 2020, with operations slated to commence by the first quarter of 2021 and Co noted that the SLBPIP is on the lookout for oil importers for the oil terminal, which will be open to independent oil and fuel importers.
Co added that the Makati-based cement importer Cohaco itself will be one of the occupiers of the cement silo to warehouse high-quality, imported cement from China, Vietnam, Indonesia, among others.
Located in Brgy. Sinisian West, Lemery Highway in Batangas, the port and industrial park is 104 kilometers away from Manila, 68km away from the Laguna International Industrial Park and 68.4km away from the First Cavite Industrial Estate, making it a viable option for locators seeking to expand operations.