Uruguay offers Port of Montevideo as outlet for Brazilian exports

Officials from the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MTOP) of Uruguay have offered industries in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) the option to transport their goods or conduct imports through the Port of Montevideo. This information was provided by the Vice President of the National Ports Administration (ANP), Daniel Loureiro.

The aim of the government authorities was to present the project for the Rivera Inland Multimodal Terminal, which will connect to the Port of Montevideo, to the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (Fiergs-RS). Fiergs-RS represents the main industries in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The Uruguayan government expects the railway that will link the Rivera Inland Terminal to the Montevideo terminal to be ready in the first quarter of the coming year. The Rivera initiative will function similarly to the Port of Montevideo, receiving goods from Brazilian trucks, which will be loaded onto wagons in Rivera and transported to the capital’s port.

The Rivera Inland Terminal is part of other joint projects between Uruguay and Brazil, such as the binational airport in Rivera, the Laguna Merín-Lagoa dos Patos Waterway, and the Mauá Bridge in Rio Branco. “These are solid projects that implement regional integration policies,” said Loureiro when questioned by El País.

Regarding the ANP, Loureiro stated, “Our intention in Porto Alegre was to present Montevideo not as a competitor to Rio Grande do Sul but as a complement or an extension of Brazilian cargo capacity, integrating with Brazilian ports to, when necessary, facilitate both the production of Rio Grande and receive its imports through the Port of Montevideo.”

Loureiro acknowledged that while the Rivera Inland Terminal’s railway connection is not yet realized—it will be ready only in April or May 2024—the Uruguayan government has, at least, presented Brazilian industrialists with this integration tool as “a tangible reality” to expand the Port of Montevideo’s sphere of influence to include northern Uruguay and southern Brazil.

Regarding the event organized for the association of Rio Grande do Sul industrialists, the Vice President of the ANP mentioned that there was a significant presence of entrepreneurs and the press. “We were very pleased with the receptivity,” he emphasized.

An Old Desire

The establishment of a dry port in Rivera has the support of the Uruguayan political system. In 2010, reactivating the railway was a priority of the government of José Mujica. At that time, an agreement was reached for the National Railways Administration (AFE) to repair 422 kilometers (Montevideo-Rivera) of railways starting in 2010, with an 18-month execution period and a $60 million investment.

This plan was “linked” to a project of the National Ports Administration at the time, which involved creating a dry port in Rivera to operate as a connection point for transporting goods from the Port of Montevideo to Brazil.

Twelve years later, on April 3, 2022, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Juan José Olaizola, stated to El País that the launch of the Central Railway, expected by the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2024, will allow the daily transportation of 2,300 tons of cellulose from the UPM plant in Durazno, as well as the possibility of transporting other types of cargo to the Port of Montevideo.

Thus, Olaizola referred to the construction of the Central Railway Line, which will also allow the Uruguayan port to connect with Rivera through the Focem 1 Line.

Olaizola emphasized that the National Ports Administration is working on the Rivera Inland Terminal, which will facilitate the transportation of regional goods at the border with Brazil. “The government’s aim is to be able to transport goods by train to the port,” the MTOP leader emphasized.

“It would be like bringing the Montevideo port terminal 500 kilometers away. When Brazilian cargo arrives at the dry port, it will have a status similar to entering the Port of Montevideo,” Olaizola said.

On March 23 of this year, the President and Vice President of the ANP, Juan Curbelo and Loureiro, respectively, presented the Rivera Inland Multimodal Dry Port Project to the Mayor of Rivera, Richard Sander. “The dry port has a defined area today, a regulatory decree designating it as a customs port area, and thus, it is a reality,” Curbelo concluded.

Source: Portal Portuario

To read the original news report, see https://portalportuario.cl/gobierno-uruguayo-ofrece-a-industriales-brasilenos-exportar-por-el-puerto-de-montevideo/

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