Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Listed San Miguel Corp. (SMC) yesterday said the deal breaker in the decision of the diversified conglomerate to withdraw from the bidding of the P65 billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT 1) Cavite extension was the viability of the public private partnership (PPP) project. SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said the company was all set to submit a bid for the Aquino administration’s largest PPP project last Wednesday but decided on the last minute to back out. “We were really serious in joining. In the last minute while running the computation, the figures did not pass our hurdle rate,” Ang said. According to Ang, the documents of SMC were complete including the insurance as well as cash bonds together with the technical and financial proposals. Based on the company’s computations, Ang pointed out that the return on investments would likely be after the 20th year even with the P5-billion subsidy to be extended by the government. SMC representative brought five big boxes to the venue of the bidding but instead decided to submit a letter informing the DOTC that it regrets not joining the bidding process. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1  Aside from SMC’s SMC Infrastructure Resources Inc., other companies that did not submit their bids last Wednesday to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) included Filipino-owned Megawide Construction Corp., Spanish-owned Globalvia Inversiones SAU, Eco Rail Services Inc. of businessman Reghis Romero II, and Malaysian-owned MTD Philippines Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Two South Korean companies that have already been sourcing corn silage from the Philippines are interested in building feed mills in the Philippines, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said. Alcala said the companies are encouraged to build feed manufacturing facilities in the country because of the availability of various feed ingredients in local farms. “They are willing to invest in a location and machinery so they can mix feeds here. We have also copra meal, coconut oil and fish meal. This will enable them to save in the manufacturing process and they would also earn income from that,” he said. Alcala declined to identify the companies pending the finalization of talks for the investment. In April last year, the Philippines sent an initial shipment of 24 metric tons (MT) of corn silage for cattle to Busan, South Korea, which was part of the 15,000 of silage shipment valued at P75 million for export until December  2013. Exporting corn silage is seen to increase farmers’ income by 20 percent. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Silage is made by harvesting forage crops such as corn, legumes and various kinds of grass at early maturity. These are then chopped finely and stored in silos to ferment. The resulting product is a sour-smelling, succulent feed for cattle. Silage is a preferred cattle feed because it is highly digestible and has good nutritional value. The preparation is also easily mechanized and ingredients are easily to source.

MANILA, Philippines – The peso stayed flat against the dollar on Thursday, closing at 43.9 from the previous day’s 43.88. Total volume transacted at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $968.5 million, lower than the $979.65 million posted on Wednesday. The peso opened Thursday at 43.899.

MANILA, Philippines  – The Philippine economy grew by 5.7 percent in the first quarter of the year, lower than the 6.5 to 7.5-percent full-year target set by the government. During the first quarter last year, the Philippine economy expanded by 7.7 percent, the highest quarterly growth rate achieved in the Aquino administration. This is a developing story.

THE GOVERNMENT has backed the loan financing bids of several local government units (LGUs) hit by typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) last year, the Department of Finance (DoF) yesterday said.