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International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) bagged the 34 –year concession for the development and operation of the $751-million second specialized container terminal of the Port of Manzanillo in Mexico.

The Administracion Portuario Integral de Manzanillo S.A. (Integral Port Administration) on Monday declared ICTSI as the winning bidder. Its contenders were Grupo Mexico, and Chile’s SAAM or Sudaamericana Agencias Aereas y Maritima S.A. (South American Air and Shipping Agency).

ICTSI will take over the port located on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, said to be the busiest port of the country on July 1, 2010. The concession agreement will be signed as early as January 15 next year.

The said terminal will cover about 77 hectares with 1,080 meters of seafront.

"The development of the container terminal will be done in three phases. First phase will involve 42 hectares with 720 meters of quay length," ICTSI said. The construction of the first phase is expected to be completed within three years from signing of the concession agreement.

The construction of the 2 million twenty foot equivalent unit (TEU)-terminal requires $751 million investment, which will be partly funded by the Mexican government and ICTSI.

For the full year 2009, ICTSI allocated $146.9 million or P=7.2 billion, mainly for civil works, systems improvement, and purchase of major cargo handling equipment at its port operations in Manila (MICT), Brazil (TSSA), and Ecuador (CGSA). The funds come from existing cash balance and internally generated funds.

In the first nine months, ICTSI invested US$77.0 million. The amount was spent principally to improve operating efficiency and acquire container handling equipment at its port operations in Ecuador (CGSA) as well as to fund the construction of the sixth berth in Manila (MICT).

ICTSI operate and develop 19 marine terminals and port projects in 13 countries worldwide. The container terminal operations in the Americas comprised of Brazil and Ecuador operations, handled 232,599 TEUs compared to the 237,888 TEUs handled in the same period in 2008.

Total TEUs handled by the Group’s container terminal operations in the Americas for the period cover was 626,410 TEUs.

"The share of the container volume from the Americas slightly grew, from 23 percent in the third quarter of 2008 to 25 percent in the same period this year," ICTSI said.

ICTSI’s container terminal operations in Asia, comprised of the terminals in the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, and China, accounted for 63 percent of consolidated volumes in the third quarter of the current year.

Volume from the company’s container terminal operations in Asia was relatively flat, to 597,076 TEUs from 599,729 TEUs.

In Asia, total TEUs handled by the Group’s container terminal operations were 1,604,787 TEUs, barely lower than the 1,624,678 TEUs in same period in 2008.

Container terminal operations in EMEA, comprised of terminals in Poland, Madagascar, Syria, and Georgia, handled 114,130 TEUs in the third quarter of 2009, 38 percent lower compared to the 183,882 TEUs handled in the same period in 2008.

The lower contribution from EMEA was mainly driven by the lower throughput from the Group’s Poland and Georgia container terminal operations.

The throughput from the Group’s EMEA segment for the first three quarters of 2009 was 40 percent lower at 302,754 TEUs compared to 504,906 TEUs in the same period in 2008. EMEA accounted for 12 percent of the Group’s volume in the third quarter of 2009.

ICTSI’s throughput in the third quarter was 8 percent lower at 943,805 (TEUs) while for the nine months, total TEUs handled were 2,533,951 TEUs lower by 9 percent.

"Global economic conditions continue to be more challenging than in recent years. Third quarter throughput volumes were stronger than the first two quarters, and the benefits of our cost containment efforts also contributed to ICTSI’s improving financial results," said Enrique K. Razon Jr., ICTSI chairman and president.

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