Mindanao CT handles 118,664 TEU in 2009

THE Mindanao Container Terminal located on the Phividec Industrial Estate in Tagoloan in northern Mindanao province and operated by Philippines-based container port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI), handled 118,664 TEU in 2009, representing an increase of a nearly a tenth compared to the previous year's throughput of 109,000 TEU.

"Despite the economic crisis our performance has been steadily going up," MCT port manager Dante Clarito was quoted as saying in a report by Business World Online.

However, last year's throughput was far less than the terminal's annual handling capacity of 270,000 TEU. "But we also have plans of expanding," said Mr Clarito. "We cannot wait for demand to exceed our capacity before we do something about it, so definitely, we will be working on expansions later," he said without providing more specific details.

He said MCT's immediate plans are to capture all of northern Mindanao's exports and to eventually attract cargoes from the neighbouring regions.

"We are already servicing rubber shipments from Zamboanga Sibugay," said Mr Clarito. "Instead of having to go to Manila, ships from the container terminal can go directly to international destinations such as Japan and other countries, especially those in the BIMP-EAGA sub-region," he said, referring to the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area.

The Mindanao Container Terminal was constructed in 2001 at the cost of PHP2.2 billion (US$47.57 million), with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation providing the majority of the funding, and the rest coming from the Phividec Industrial Authority. The facility commenced operations in 2004.
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(Source: www.schednet.com)