ICTSI to spend $600m on Latin port expansion

Philippines' International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) will spend more than half a billion US dollars in the next two years to expand its ports in Latin America, according to the Philippines News Agency.

Enrique Razon, ICTSI chairman and president told reporters that the port operator would spend roughly close to $600 million over the next two years to expand ports in Columbia, Argentina and Mexico.

Razon said the company's ports in Columbia, Argentina and Mexico are very "valuable ports," and these areas are vibrant.

This year, the company has programmed about $123 million in capital expenditure mainly for civil works, systems improvement, and purchase of major cargo handling equipment at its port operations in Manila, Brazil, Ecuador and Madagascar.

In the first six months, ICTSI already spent $48.7 million, which mainly went to the acquisition of container handling equipment in Brazil, the civil works in the Ecuador terminal to expand handling capacity and to improve operating efficiency and Manila International Container Terminal’s spending on Berth 6.

Razon added that he expects growth in the first half to sustain in the second semester of the year because of the global trade recovery.

"We are performing pretty much well over last year," Razon said, referring to traffic volume.

The throughput from the company’s container terminal operations in Asia increased 28 percent to 1.3 million TEUs while in Americas it grew by 23 percent to 484,724 TEUs.

Volume handled in Europe, Middle East, and Africa reached 235,944 TEUs.

From January to June, ICTSI’s earnings surged 83 percent to $42.4 million from $23.2 million a year ago.

The company’s revenues from port operations during the first half of the year rose 31 percent to $246.9 million from $188.8 million in 2009.
(Source:www.cargonewsasia.com)