ICTSI primed for Build Build Build — Razon

International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) is ready for the government’s Build Build Build program.

“We already have the capacity to handle that program because we’ve been investing continuously in the Philippines. It’s starting to roll out now, we’re ready for that,” ICTSI chairman Enrique Razon said in an interview with Bloomberg live from the Milken Institute Global Conference in California.

He said his ports in the Philippines are ready to handle any additional capacity that may result from the construction of new infrastructure projects in the country.

But in terms of actual participation in the government’s infrastructure program, ICTSI won’t be straying from its area of business, Razon said.

“We’re very wary about straying from our speciality. We have to see if there is something along the line we are interested in,” he added.

ICTSI has already completed the country’s first roll-on roll-off barge terminal project in Cavite.

The Cavite Gateway Terminal (CGT) is the first barge terminal in the country and the first Build Build Build project.

The project sits on a sixhectare property in Tanza, Cavite, which was chosen for the location of the project due to the province’s high economic density.

Razon said infrastructure should have taken off in the Philippines 20 years ago.

“What is needed now is strong political will to get it off the ground .... I think Duterte has very strong chance of getting it done,” he said.

But Razon said a full-blown war between the US and China could affect ICTSI’s operations in Mexico.

ICTSI owns and operates 30 container ports and terminals worldwide – from Manila to Madagascar.

Despite possible trade disruptions, Razon believes the ports business will continue to perform strongly this year as it did last year.

ICTSI posted a net income of $207.7 million last year, up seven percent from the previous year.

The group handled consolidated volume of 9.15 million TEUs last year, five percent more than the 8.7 million TEUs in 2016 amid continuing improvements in global trade, the ramp-up in Iraq, new liner services in Mexico, and the contribution of new terminals in DR Congo and Australia.

Gross revenues, meanwhile, amounted to $1.24 billion, up 10 percent year on year.

For this year, the company is pouring in $380 million in capital expenditures “mainly for continuing capacity expansion in Manila, Mexico, and Iraq; completion of the Honduras expansion, equipment and infrastructure development in Papua New Guinea, and the new barge terminal in Cavite.