Buenos Aires Port reduces tariffs to stimulate more business

Argentina`s  Transport Ministry and the Port of Buenos Aires have announced a series of discounts on port charges for cargo and passenger ships arriving at the national port. The measures seek to bring a positive impact to the port in facing the pandemic caused by the coronavirus.  The measures were put in place by the director of Buenos Aires Port, José Beni, and they establish partial and progressive discounts of up to 50% of the general tariff for cargo ships using the port and will be retroactive to January 1st of this year.

When it comes to cruises, anticipating the start of the season and with the objective of having more passengers, the general port use fee for vessels as well as the charges for dock usage will be reduced by 25% for international cruise liners, amounting to a bonus of 100% for vessels over 315 meters long. In addition, these vessels will receive a 100% discount on the passenger fee, the use of a scanner, and the security fee. Accompanying these measures, a 50% reduction in the basic waterway toll rate was agreed, both inbound and outbound, on the Buenos Aires-Atlantic Ocean section.

“On instructions from the Ministry of Transport, Mario Meoni, and understanding the exceptional situation that is occurring in the world and the influence that our port has on the country’s economy, we decided to implement measures that promote the arrival of more tourists and more cargo to our country ”, Said José Beni. In addition, he stressed that he is working with cruise companies and shipowners to implement the sanitary measures necessary for activities to be carried out safely and without risk of contagion.

The Port of Buenos Aires is the only national port that Argentina has and the main containerized cargo operator in the country. In addition, during the cruise season, it receives about half a million tourists.  See the following table for the ranking of the main ports in Argentina:

Ranking of container handling in Argentine ports | Jan 2020 to Apr 2020 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (To request a DataLiner demo click here)

At the beginning of the current administration, the authorities of the only national port had to carry out the process of extending the terminal’s concessions to guarantee, in addition to jobs, Argentine production, and foreign trade.

The following chart shows that the Port of Buenos Aires registered 6.66% growth in the handling of containerized cargo in TEU in the first four months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019: