SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Port revenues for this premier freeport is up with figures from January to September of 2022 recording ₱1,146,055,192.99, an increase of 14% compared to the same period last year.
According to Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chairman and administrator Rolen C. Paulino, the current port revenue increase is in relation to the previous year’s record of ₱1,000,929,260.85, with a difference of ₱145,125,932.14.
“The record increase of port revenue this year compared to last year shows that the port sector of the Subic Bay Freeport is thriving, so we are expecting more ship calls here as we gradually ease out from the effects and restrictions of the pandemic,” Paulino said.
Seaport revenues were derived from vessel charges, cargo charges, processing fee, SBMA share, lease/rental of facilities, and other charges.
The SBMA Seaport department’s periodical report submitted by general manager Jerome Martinez indicated the revenues collected from the first until the third quarter has already achieved 81% of their 2022 revenue forecast.
Martinez disclosed that the department has pegged its 2022 revenue forecast at ₱1,413,602,940, and it only needs to earn ₱267,547,747 until December to achieve it.
During the same period, Martinez said that the SBMA received 1,810 ship calls this year up until September, an increase of 350 ships or 24% from the same period last year of 1,460 ship calls.
He added that of the 1,810 ship calls, 1,087 of them were foreign ship calls. The recorded 1,087 foreign ship calls marked an increase of 18% from last year’s 921 foreign ship calls.
He also cited that 723 were domestic ship calls, with an increase of 184 domestic ship calls or an increment of 34% from last year, which recorded only 539.
The report also indicated that the Port of Subic has also recorded an increase in gross registered tonnage by 30%, recording 22,852,265 GT for the period of January to September this year, an increase of 5,328,361 GT from last year’s same period of 17,523,904 GT.
Senior deputy administrator for operations Ronnie Yambao cited that the increase of GT is due to the increase in foreign vessels, recording 22,240,369 GT for the said period. He added that this is higher by 31% or 5,205,914 GT from last year’s 17,034,455 GT.
Yambao also reported an increase in GT from the 611,896 GT derived from domestic vessels that came into Subic Freeport. This figure is higher by 25% or 122,447 GT than last year’s 489,449 GT of the same period.
He likewise noted an increase in non-containerized cargo volume for this quarter with 5,536.171 MT as compared to last year’s 4,863,697 MT. A 14% increase was registered, recording a difference of 672,474 MT.
The official however cited a negligible decline in the containerized cargo volume for this year, adding that the number of containers that utilized the Port of Subic were 190,168 twenty-footer equivalent units (TEUs) as compared to last year’s 192,217 TEUs, a 1% decline from 2,049 TEUs last year.
Paulino said that despite this “little hiccup,” the outlook for the Port of Subic is gaining momentum, and would likely trample last year’s records.
“The hit rate for our key performance indicators is around 90%, with only containerized cargo volume lagging, but I am sure that the agency will hit the mark before the year ends,” he said.
