Sun.

Star Cebu | Wednesday, April 23, 2008 A17

business
LIBERTY A. PINILI Editor

business@sunstar.com.ph

Vessel for Scotland

Shipbuilding firm in Balamban, Cebu completes car-passenger ship for UK company
ABOITIZ-owned FBMA Marine Inc. in
Balamban, Cebu will deliver in a few
weeks its first export this year.
FBMA has completed a 70-meter car
and passenger ferry for Pentland Ferries
of United Kingdom. The ferry, which is
of catamaran type with steel hulls, will
reportedly be used in northern Scotland.
The vessel, dubbed Pentalina, “is de-
signed for the rough waters and large
waves in the northern part of Scotland,”
said FBMA marketing manager Craig
Patrick.
Delivery of the Pentalina is scheduled
in the next six to seven weeks, when it
will set sail from the Philippines to Scot-
land for 28 to 34 days, Patrick said.
He said the total investment for the
vessel is estimated to be at $10 million
to $15 million.
The new liner will replace an older car
ferry in northern Scotland and meets all
the regulations imposed by United King-
dom (UK) authorities, he said.
Contract
The vessel has a service speed of 15
knots and can accommodate up to 350
passengers, nine trucks and 58 cars.
FBMA and Pentland Ferries sealed a
contract on Feb. 14, 2007 for the build-
ing of the Pentalina, which uses alumi-
num as a superstructure.
Patrick said officials from the Mari-
time Coast Guard Agency in the UK, who
visited FBMA’s facility in Balamban four
times, lauded the craftsmanship of
Cebuano workers.
During the ship’s launching yesterday
at the FBMA shipyard, Andrew Banks,
owner of Pentland Ferries, described
Pentalina as the “first of its kind in Scot-
land.”
Mary Geraldine Polanco-Onganon,
FBMA assistant vice president for human
resource-branding, said about 250 work-
ers—welders, pipe-fitters and fabrication
marine electricians, among others—
worked on the Pentalina for 15 months.
Skilled workers
Onganon said that while FBMA is
adversely affected by the exodus of skilled
workers to Australia, the company has
invested on an in-house training center
to develop potential workers.
The company’s efforts to enhance its PINOY-MADE. The 70-meter Pentalina is the product of 250 Filipino workers of FBMA
pool of skilled workers have strengthened Marine in Balamban, Cebu. (SUN.STAR CEBU/RUEL ROSELLO)
the confidence of FBMA’s clients, Patrick
said.
He revealed that the company has or- targeted for August this year. 1997. It has delivered more than 22 high-
ders for three more vessels for clients in Patrick said this indicates bullishness speed ferries and patrol boats to clients
England and New Caledonia. in the shipbuilding industry and a huge in Mexico, Korea, Ausralia and the UK.
The England-based client has ordered opportunity for Cebuanos. The ISO (International Organization
two vessels with expected delivery in June FBMA has been operating a 76,000- for Standardization) 9001-certified com-
2009, while that for New Caledonia is square meter shipyard in Balamban since pany employs 500 people. MMM

Production of Toledo mine seen BIZ

to equal yield of Benguet facility
A MINING analyst consid-
ers Atlas Consolidated Mining
and Development Corp. mine
in Toledo City as possibly “the
next Philex.”
Although it is yet to issue
a valuation on the company,
ATR Kim Eng Securities Inc.
was impressed with ACMDC’s
infrastructure and facilities.
Robin Sarmiento, mining
analyst for ATR Kim Eng, vis-
ited the ACMDC compound
last week and observed that
employees there are already
“busy.” He said this is a good
indicator that ACMDC would
be able to go in production
soon.
With the Toledo mine ca-
pable of P5 billion in revenues,
Sarmiento observed that
ACMDC is comparable to
Philex Mining Corp. in terms
of production.
Philex Mining has been
operating a copper-gold-sil-
ver mine in Padcal, Tuba in
Benguet Province for 49
years. Philex mined a total of
314 million tons of ore at
the end of 2006, with metal
production of about 1.9 bil-
lion pounds of copper con-
centrate, 153 million grams
of gold and 169.26 million
grams of silver in concentrate
and bullion form.
Copper concentrate
Early this month, Philex
Mining reported to the Philip-
pine Stock Exchange that it
produced a total of 5,025 dry
metric tons of copper concen-
trates worth P727 million.
Sarmiento expects Philex
to post a dividend yield of 7.6
percent this year.
With proven reserves,
Sarmiento also considers the
world-class copper facility of
ACMDC as a factor in his fore-
cast.
ACMDC was also able to
retain 30 percent of its origi-
nal workforce.
Although Sarmiento still
deems investing in ACMDC as
high-risk, he believes it will
still provide excellent returns
should production ramp up in
2008, as expected.
Based on an internal fea-
sibility study conducted by
ACMDC, Sarmiento said the
company has put up conser-
vative assumptions, pricing
copper at $2 and gold at $600
based on a foreign exchange
rate of P40 to a dollar.
ACMDC is expected to run
a mine life of 12 years and
pegs copper and gold at 80
percent and 11 percent of
sales, respectively.
BITES
The mining sector outlook
for this year, according to ATR
Kim Eng’s observations, will be
driven by the demand for met-
als softening with the United
States economy still in reces-
sion and China’s economic
growth slowing down as well.
The US and China consume
roughly 30 percent of copper
produced globally.
As soon as the US economy
bounces back, demand for met-
als is expected to go up. In the
US, copper is mainly used for
home-building and electronics.
Gold is currently used as a
hedge against inflation as its
price rises with the weakening
of the US dollar.
Although it is the largest
consumer of gold at 20 percent
of global demand, India only
produces two percent of the
M
The Philippine Stock Exchange
composite index dropped to
2,855.75. The weighted aver-
age of the peso slipped to
41.918 against the dollar.
Chinese visa
HONG KONG—China has yet to
provide full details of controversial visa
restrictions on business and tourist travel
despite several requests, Britain’s new
consul-general to Hong Kong said
yesterday.
Andrew Seaton said the new restric-
tions were a “concern” and Britain had
taken up the matter with Chinese authori-
ties in Hong Kong, Beijing and London.
“As far as I know, we do not yet have
that precise clarification of the new rules
that we are seeking,” Seaton told report-
ers on his first day on the job.
China has stopped issuing multiple-
entry visas and now insists on both hotel
and transport receipts before they will
grant permission for business travelers or
tourists to enter the country, travel agents
said. (AFP)

TOLEDO MINE, A19