SBF committed investments and expansion projects skyrocket in 2022

Committed investments infused by new investors and expansion projects in the Subic Bay Freeport have surged dramatically in 2022 following the easing of pandemic restrictions in the country. 

The Business and Investment Group of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), in its yearend report, said that committed investments in 2022 accrued to ₱50,408,031,828.06, which is 2,128 percent more than committed investments in 2021 of ₱2,262,774,109.78.

The report said that the number of new investors has increased from 115 companies in 2021, to 133 in 2022 whose committed investment amounted to ₱14,063,061,938.70.

These 133 new companies aim to employ 1,874 new workers that will add to the workforce of this premier Freeport.

Northern Palawan Power Generation Corporation tops the list of new investors, committing a total of Php7-billion in new investments. the company will locate at Cawag, Redondo Peninsula to engage in real estate development for power generation and other energy sources. 

This was followed by UNCO United Oil and Gas Philippines with ₱1,948,096,000 and Tawi Tawian Petroleum Trading Corporation with ₱1,500,000,000. Both companies are engaged in petroleum importation and trading.

On the other hand, expansion projects of existing SBF locators committed in 2022 has accrued to ₱36,344,969,889.30, which is 6,040 percent more than 2021’s ₱591,914,600.00.

Existing locators with the biggest committed investments in expansion projects include Vectrus Subic Corporation with ₱14,522,658,219.30, Agila South Inc. with ₱10,737,616,537, Agila NY Naval Inc. with ₱6,283,079,863, and Nidec Subic Philippines Corporation, which was recently signed during President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s official visit to Japan, with ₱4,200,000,000. 

The number of investors who plan to implement expansion projects have increased from 24 in 2021 to 38 in 2022. The expansion projects of these 38 investors will hire 2,832 additional workers.

“This proves that my appointment as SBMA Chairman and Administrator is indeed a very big blessing. I am so blessed to be working with a team of hard-working men and women; equally blessed to be appointed at a time when pandemic restrictions started to ease up,” SBMA Chairman and Administrator Rolen C. Paulino said.

This manifestation of investor confidence, he said, makes the Subic Bay Freeport Zone more attractive to foreign and local investments who want to make it happen in the Philippines by doing it in Subic Bay.

Meanwhile, SBMA Senior Deputy Administrator for Business and Investment Renato Lee III said that the operating expenses of the agency recorded as of November 2022 is at 4.14 percent, citing that the agency was able to generate ₱24.17 in revenues for every ₱1 spent.

He added that the revenue from January to November has reached ₱1,690,541,578.00, which is 134.81 percent higher than the target ₱719,949,783.68, resulting in a difference of ₱970,591,794.33.

Lee also said that the number of Certificates of Registration and Tax Exemption (CRTEs) that were processed almost doubled from the target CRTEs, disclosing an increase of 84.91 percent. He added that the target this year was pegged at 464, while the actual number of processed CRTEs have a total of 858.

The official also revealed that the 879 term sheets processed by the SBMA’s Business and Investment Departments (BIDs) has surpassed the target of 448, a discrepancy of 431 term sheets, or 96.21 percent surplus.

Paulino said that the agency will continue to follow the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. aiming to make this premier Freeport into the country's bastion of economic prowess. He added that with President Marcos at the helm, foreign investor confidence in Subic Freeport will remain strong. (SNL)

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Subic Port thrives as revenues up by 14 percent from Jan.-Sept. 2022

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 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) 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 revenues 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 percent 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 its revenue forecast.

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 percent 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 has an increase of 18 percent 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 percent 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 (GT) by 30 percent, 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.

Meanwhile, Senior Deputy Administrator for Operations Ronnie Yambao cited that the increase of Gross Tonnage 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 percent or 5,205,914 GT from last year’s 17,034,455 GT.

Yambao also cited an increase in Gross Registered Tonnage from the 611,896 GT derived from domestic vessels that came into Subic Freeport. This figure is higher by 25 percent or 122,447 GT than last year’s 489,449 GT of the same period.

Moreover, Yambao also mentioned 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 percent 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 there 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 one percent decline from 2,049 TEUs last year.

Chairman 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 are around 90 percent, with only containerized cargo volume lagging, but I am sure that the agency will hit the mark before the year ends,” he said. (MPD-SBMA) 

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