Cosco inks Philippine $3bn mega transshipment hub

Manila: China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., China's biggest shipping company, plans to invest $3 billion to develop a shipping complex at Sangley Point in Cavite, Bloomberg reported.

Cosco Chief Executive Officer Wei Jiafu (pictured) told President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo about the plan in a meeting yesterday at the presidential palace, according to an e-mailed statement from Ignacio Bunye, Arroyo's spokesman.

The government is promoting the site as a so-called transshipment point for vessels carrying goods from Asia to Europe, the U.S. and the rest of the world, the statement said.

Sangley Point is 8 miles (12.8 kilometers) southwest of Manila, the capital.

With the region suffused in excess transshipment capacity, analysts are more than a tad surprised at this Cosco venture. Already transshipment centres such as Busan, Kaohsiung and Laem Chabang are struggling to fill their berths, while southeast Asia's premier pair of transshipment centres, Singapore (where Cosco has dedicated berths) and the Port of Tanjung Pelepas, are a stiff match for anything planned in Luzon, the Philippines main island where Cavite is based. Cavite, just south of Manila, suffers from dreadful traffic congestion.  [19/06/07]