Southeast Asia · Case study

ICTSI, Laguna Gateway dry port and Cavite barge link for the Port of Manila

Calamba, Laguna and Tanza, Cavite, linked to the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), Port of Manila, Philippines2015 to present (LGICT operating since March 2015)

International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) operates the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) at the Port of Manila. CALABARZON, south of Metro Manila, hosts major industrial parks and economic zones (ICTSI, n.d.a). To move cargo between these zones and MICT without relying only on the road link into Manila, ICTSI added two hinterland facilities: a dry port in Laguna and a container barge terminal in Cavite (ICTSI, n.d.a; ICTSI, n.d.b).

Approach

A dry port near the factories. Laguna Gateway Inland Container Terminal (LGICT) opened in March 2015 as a P1 billion ICTSI project (LGICT, n.d.a). It is a 21 hectare dry port in Calamba, Laguna, about 58 km south of Metro Manila (LGICT, n.d.a; ICTSI, n.d.a). LGICT describes itself as the first dry port in the Philippines (LGICT, n.d.a).

Customs and depot services inland. LGICT is a registered off-dock customs facility and an accredited empty container depot (LGICT, n.d.a). It offers import transfers, export drop-off, container freight station, reefer plug-ins and trucking services (LGICT, n.d.b). This lets shippers in Southern Luzon handle cargo near their plants instead of at the seaport.

Shared ownership with logistics partners. LGICT is a joint venture of ICTSI (majority owner), Transnational Diversified Group and Nippon Container Terminal Co. Ltd., a member of the NYK Group (LGICT, n.d.c).

A water route across Manila Bay. Cavite Gateway Terminal (CGT) in Tanza, Cavite, is a roll-on/roll-off container barge terminal. It gives Southern Luzon another route to and from the Port of Manila via Manila Bay sea lanes, bypassing limited road access (ICTSI, n.d.b).

Proposed rail. LGICT's undated services page describes coordination with the Philippine National Railway to revive freight rail between MICT and LGICT (LGICT, n.d.b). That source does not confirm an operating rail service, so rail is a proposal rather than an implemented part of this case.

Results

LGICT states that it adds 250,000 TEU a year of yard capacity for MICT; this is capacity, not measured throughput (LGICT, n.d.a). The operator states that its storage service lowers import inventory at MICT, decreases average import dwell time and reduces laden yard use (LGICT, n.d.a). No independent data on truck trips or emissions avoided was found in the sources reviewed.

Transferability

DMC ports with congested urban access roads can move customs clearance, empty container storage and consolidation to an inland site close to industrial zones.

Where a sheltered bay or navigable river exists, and demand and commercial feasibility support it, a barge terminal can provide a second route that avoids city roads. Rail can be planned as a later phase.

Ports should measure truck trips, dwell time and emissions from the start, since this case lacks published data on these outcomes.

Sources

All information used for this case study was based on publicly available resources.