Port of Montevideo: container activity drops 7%

From January to September this year, the Port of Montevideo, Uruguay, handled only 338,000 containers, which implied a drop of 7% over the previous year.

The general manager of the main public dock operator, Montecon, Juan Olascoaga, commented that not only Montevideo has shown a slower pace of activity, but also the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where there were even more significant casualties.

One exception: the bulk terminals of Rosário (Argentina) and Nueva Palmira (Uruguay), due to higher grain production in the last summer season. According to information from the Uruguayan Logistics Institute (Inalog), cargo movement at this terminal grew 10% from January to June.

However, these years of container transit through the Montevideo terminal accumulated a 5.7% drop.

Olascoaga explained that the latest data from September were particularly negative for the Uruguayan city, as imports at this time of year often show a different face, as they begin preparing for the end-of-year harvest and this has not happened.

In addition, he added that the greatest uncertainty is set in Argentina, because the direction of port policy after the presidential elections is unknown.

Montecon’s manager said that activities for 2020 and 2021 will be complicated for Uruguay as a result of building four projects that will require an investment of about US$1.6bn.

The first of these is the construction of a 1,800-meter overpass with two cargo ramps to the port that will cost US$125m.

The second is the specialized pulp terminal of the Finnish paper mill UPM, in which US$280m will be invested. Meanwhile, the train for the road that will enter the port will require US$1.100m.

The fourth job is the Capurro fishing pier, by the Teyma-Chediack consortium. Regarding this project, the director of the National Port Administration (ANP), Juan Curbelo, stated that they are still “detailing” so that the project can happen. Initially, an investment of US$95m was budgeted, but there were project corrections and the cost was increased by US$115m. “We will be very attentive to these negotiations so that the costs are not much higher than those agreed in the original contract,” Curbelo said.

Source: Mundo Marítimo

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