WHILE other market players are registering declines in growth, South Pacific Inc.’s (SPI) market share continues to go up.
SPI has steadily expanded its market share from a mere 3 percent or 38,000 metric tons in 2015 to 13.6 percent or 218,000 MT in 2017. In 2018, the numbers jumped as SPI snared 16 percent of the market, positioning itself as a strong third among the country’s major players, in just four years in the industry.
SPI, a 100-percent Filipino-owned company, owns and operates the biggest liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage in the Philippines. SPI’s terminal in Luzon, strategically located in Calaca, Batangas, has a storage capacity of 22,000 MT.
To date, it has 11 surface-mounded tank storages, eight Gantry Bay for truck loading, and Marine Loading Arm for faster and efficient product receiving. Because of SPI’s large storage capacity and ample draft, it is capable of receiving refrigerated cargoes from very large gas carriers, making the company the most competitive gas cost in the country.
The company’s rapid growth, the steadily increasing demands of the market, and the success of its Calaca terminal have given impetus to an aggressive expansion plan. Recently, SPI has widened its reach to Southern Philippines with the construction of the SPI Cebu terminal.
SPI President Inigo “Jun” Golingay Jr. said, “LPG consumption has greatly expanded at a rate that challenges petroleum demand. SPI is responding to this demand growth by extending our reach to Southern Philippines, particularly in Cebu province.”
For Golingay, the expansion goes beyond getting a bigger chunk of the market. “Expanding to this part of the country will not only address market demand. Additionally, it will create investment opportunities in all segments.”
SPI’s Chief Business Development Officer, Ronie Badidles said the company’s expansion with the launch of the Cebu terminal is timely. Since the 1990s, the LPG industry has undergone positive and significant changes. In the Philippine market alone, he said the demand has ballooned from just over 250,000 MT to 1.598M MT in 2017.
Badidle said SPI shared in the uptick and more than quadrupled its market share.
SPI Cebu TermInal, located inside Arctura Petroterminal in Mandaue City has two 1,000-MT storage capacity. Similar to the Calaca plant, SPI Cebu terminal will be selling to bulk customers. The terminal boasts of a cylinder refilling platform that will cater to customers with their own LPG brands.
SPI Cebu terminal will be serving not only Cebu, but the neighboring islands of Negros, Bohol, Samar and Leyte.
SPI plans to construct five more terminals with the same capacity of 2,000 MT, Golingay said.