Workers at Sanyo Denki Philippines, Inc. assemble cooling fans used for ventilators—one of Subic’s top export products during the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo by Malou Dungog
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — Subic-based companies and port users in this Freeport registered an increase of 48 percent in exports and 29 percent in imports in the first three months of this year despite less-than-ideal business conditions brought about by the continuing Covid-19 pandemic.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chair and administrator Wilma T. Eisma said Subic’s export value in the first quarter of 2021 (Q1) hit $321.61 million, while imports reached $462.5 million.
The Q1 2021 exports was higher by $104.31 million, compared to the $217.3-million record in Q1 2020. On the other hand, Q1 2021 imports was bigger by $103.3 million, compared to $359.2 million in Q1 2020.
“The growth in the first quarter of 2021 is very much significant when matched against last year’s records because we were not yet in a pandemic in the first two and a half months last year,” Eisma pointed out.
“This means there are more winners than there were losers in Subic despite Covid-19, and that the SBMA’s thrust to make Subic enterprises more adaptive to changes under the new normal is also paying off,” she added.
Export figures from the SBMA Trade Facilitation and Compliance Department (TFCD) indicated that Japanese manufacturer Sanyo Denki Philippines, Inc. emerged as the biggest winner among business locators in Subic that in the first quarter of 2021
The firm, which operates three factories at the Subic Techno Park to produce uninterrupted power supply units, cooling fans, servo amplifiers, and stepping motors, posted a freight-on-board (FOB) value of $79.5 million. That was almost 25 percent of the total exports in Subic from January to March 2021.
It could be recalled that Sanyo Denki was among the very few Subic locators allowed to continuously operate under enhanced community quarantine. This was to build cooling fans used for ventilators that were used for patients with severe case of Covid-19.
Next to Sanyo Denki came lock-maker Tong Lung Phils. Metal Industry Co. with $26 million; sports, athletic goods and outdoor bag manufacturer Philippines Easepal Technology Ltd., $25.2 million; ultrasonic sensor manufacturer Nicera Philippines Inc., $23.6 million; wood processor Juken Sangyo Phils. Corp., $17.16 million; Orica Phils. Inc., which operates a regional manufacturing hub in Limay, Bataan, $13.9 million; computer builder Wistron Info Comm (Phils) Corp., $13.9 million; high-end eyewear producer Lindberg Ag-A4-Branch, $11.07 million; branded shoe manufacturer Da Tian Subic Shoes Inc., $10.2 million; and precision electronic equipment maker Nidec Subic Phils. Corp., $8.8 million.
Eisma pointed out that export value generated by the top 10 exporters already comprised 71.4 percen of the total exports in Subic in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, imports in Q1 2021 reached $462.5 million, which represented an increase of 29 percentover the $359.2-million record in Q1 2020.
Ronnie Yambao, OIC-senior deputy administrator for the SBMA Port Operations Group, explained that the increase in imports this quarter was boosted by the admission of petroleum products into Subic.
Still, Sanyo Denki dominated the ranks of importers for this period with an invoice value of $54.4 million, TFCD records showed.
The other top importers were: chemicals manufacturer Raizen Asia Pte. Ltd (Phil. Branch) with $37.4 million; Wistron InfoComm, $33.3 million; fuel trader Golden Share Commerce and Trading Inc., $32.7 million; Micro Dragon Petroleum Inc., $19.5 million; Tong Lung Metal, $$19.1 million; fuel distributor Warbucks Industries Corp., $12.6 million; Nicera Philippines, $11.7 million; Nidec Subic, $10.9 million; and courier firm Air 2100 Inc., $10.8 million.
