Using Subic cuts costs saves time, says SBMA | SubicNewsLink

12 September 2012

Using Subic cuts costs saves time, says SBMA

Traders are most likely to benefit from using the Port of Subic as trucking costs as much as 20 percent lower, travel time is halved, and port fees are considerably cheaper, a Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority official said.

Norberto J. Sosa, SBMA director, said in a presentation at a conference at the Subic Freeport that traders win north-bound business are the ones to benefit the most from using Subic port.

He said, for example, the travel distance from Manila to Bataan is 123 kilometers, extremely far compared with the Subic-Bataan route, which is only 20 km.

“Subic to Tarlac is only 60 km while Manila to Tarlac is 125 km,” Sosa said. He also said that Subic is only 60 km away from Clark, compared with Manila, which is 85 km away from the former US Air Force base.

In terms of trucking fees, Sosa said that the costs are trimmed by at least 10 to 20 percent.

Sosa estimated that the fee for trucking via Manila-Clark-Subic is P14,000, while it is only P12,000 for the Subic-Clark-Subic loop.

He likewise pointed out that port fees in Subic are far lower than those charged by Manila’s ports.

Subic Bay charges P1,481.78 for every 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container and P3,402 for every 40-foot equivalent unit (FEU) box. Meanwhile, the Manila International Container Terminal and the Asian Terminal Inc. charge P2,677.12 per TEU and P6,918 per FEU.

“Bay has lower tariff compared with other ports in the Philippines,” Sosa said.

Sosa said the Port of Subic is on the western side of Luzon off the Western Philippine Sea. It is geographically located at the center of the Asia-Pacific region and is the first and premier freeport of the Philippines at the Subic-Clark Corridor and Metro Luzon Urban Beltway.

“The Subic Bay is surrounded by mountain ranges and provides deepwater harbor that is protected from typhoons,” Sosa said. (Jennifer Ambanta, Malaya Business Insight)

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