By Emmie V. Abadilla
Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI) expects no cargo flow bottlenecks for this December holiday season after expanding its gateway ports in Manila and Batangas.
Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI) logo (Courtesy of asianterminals.com.ph)
In Manila South Harbor (MSH), ATI recently added around 5,000 teus (twenty-foot equivalent units) in static cargo space with the completion of its Container Yard 2 extension, which has a total of five blocks for rubber-tired gantry (RTG) operations.
A further capacity of 10,000 teus is expected to be delivered from 2020 to 2021 with the ongoing expansion of its main yard and the scheduled extension of its berthing facilities in Pier 3.
Early this year, Batangas Container Terminal (BCT) effectively doubled its annual capacity to around 500,000 teus, with the deployment of two more quay cranes, four additional RTGs and the expansion of its berthing and yard facilities.
All these investments are in line with ATI's commitment to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to sustain efficient terminal operations for the benefit of its shipping line customers and beneficial cargo owners.
Meanwhile, ATI reported strong results for the third quarter of the year, sustained by robust growth of international cargoes handled by MSH and BCT.
In a regulatory disclosure to the local bourse, ATI's revenues reached ₱10.17 billion in the first 9 months of the year up by 14.8% versus the same period last year on account of double-digit cargo volume growth handled by both marine terminals.
ATI's income from January to September rose by 30.2 percent to ₱2.85 billion compared to ₱2.19 billion during the same period last year.
From January to September, MSH handled a record volume of over 960,000 teus, higher by 12.3% compared to last year.
Sustaining its role in facilitating cargo flows in Southern Luzon, BCT already equaled its full-year 2018 volume as of September, as it facilitated the delivery of nearly 250,000 teus for the 9-month period representing a 38.7% growth.