The new partnership will market the Subic Bay international port as the premiere trading gateway for industries in the northern Luzon regions, particularly businesses located in the freeports of Subic Bay, Zambales and Clark Field, Pampanga and the special economic zones of northern Philippine provinces such as Tarlac and Bataan. SBITC and J-PAC agreed to endeavor to increase containerized cargo handling activities to make Subic, with its strategic location, more viable to both industrial locators and shipping lines.
“This partnership puts us a step forward in our bid to promote SBITC in the northern Luzon regions. We will continue to provide world-class services to our customers as well as follow the standard set to us by ICTSI,” says Jose Manuel De Jesus, SBITC president.
J-PAC will include SBITC in its marketing and promotional activities with its existing customers and potential customers. When a new customer for SBITC has been indentified and targeted, a formal marketing agreement with the customer will be forged. Currently, locators in the freeports and special economic zones in northern Luzon need more logistics infrastructure support. Most import and export cargo from the area pass the Manila ports, limiting shipping possibilities. The development of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) remains underutilized while the Subic port has yet to be optimized.
J-PAC Logistics has sought the permission of Clark Development Corp. to develop a container handling and yard facility inside the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ). This will be strategic and beneficial for shipping lines and industrial locators to have a container facility set-up inside the CSEZ.
Instead of pulling out and returning empty containers all the way back to Manila, empty container storage is done at an empty container depot inside Clark. This reduces the truck’s turn around time, resulting in faster delivery while having immediate access to an empty container inventory. The SCTEX, on the other hand, provides better road conditions, travel time and easy access to and from Subic and Clark, because of less traffic. Lastly, a container yard in Clark will be cost effective for both shipping lines and locators. The container handling and yard facility is seen as an economic catalyst to spur business activity in the region.
“We are deeply honored to be partnering with SBITC and we look forward to helping them achieve goals while simultaneously addressing what needs to be done for our locators,” says Ramon De Leon, J-Pac Logistics president.
Since 1999, J-PAC Logistics has been active in Philippine logistics, and is recognized as a major cargo consolidator in freight forwarding to key destinations worldwide, and an affiliate of the Pac-Atlantic Group of Companies.
SBITC is operated and managed by ICTSI, a leading port management company involved in the operations and development of 22 marine terminals and port projects in 17 countries worldwide. The company was among the first international terminal operators to take its expertise overseas.