Construction will begin during the third quarter of 2024 and will last 18 months. Today, almost 60% of Chile's land trade transits through the port of Los Andes.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric ordered this week to prioritize the expansion works of the Los Andes Land Port (PTLA), in the Valparaíso region.
The concessionaire of the current facility (PTLA) proposed in 2018 an investment close to US$ 16 million to add 11 hectares and capacity for 380 trucks, which would significantly increase capacity of the logistics chain of land goods, enabling a flow of more than 18 thousand cargo vehicles per month.
The project consists of the expansion and improvement of the current land port, increasing the surface area by 20 hectares for 500 truck beds and new rooms for drivers and officials in general.
In addition, it seeks to diversify cargo and transportation management through the incorporation of the railway, streamlining and enhancing the country's foreign trade through its central macrozone. The construction of a 2.5 km railway detour is also foreseen, which will allow interconnection with the ports of Ventanas, Valparaíso and San Antonio, in addition to the south-central area of the country and all intermediate areas, reducing environmental pollution.
The works seek to incorporate technological improvement in the logistics and review processes of the cargo that enters and leaves Chile. This, with the purpose of minimizing the road impact in the areas surrounding its location, improving the security of the area and reducing the transportation times of the products to their final destination, and favoring the logistics chain related to the productive activities of the central area of the country.
Those close to the process explained to AméricaEconomía that the expansion process and the extension of the concession is currently under evaluation at the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) and the national customs service, which together are setting the criteria of the business model that will be applied to carry out the process. The environmental licensing is approved so the port authorities did not consider carrying out an additional EIA.
WORKS FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH
“One of the priorities of our government, in addition to citizen and social security, is the recovery of our economy. I am convinced that 2024 will be the year of takeoff for the Chilean economy and of resuming the path of growth that, in recent years, and due to different factors, had been lost," said the President when announcing the prioritization of works in the region.
The announcement was made in the framework of a session of the Cabinet for Growth and Employment led by the president with the participation of several ministers.
The need to accelerate important projects for the Valparaíso Region was one of the topics that was addressed in the session of the Cabinet for Growth and Employment that President Gabriel Boric headed in the commune of Los Andes. Other projects were also discussed, such as the optimization of exploitation at Codelco Andina; the Provincial Hospital of Marga Marga
In this regard, the provincial delegate, Cristian Aravena, highlighted that "with the expansion of the Land Port we can work in a better way in the coordination of cargo transportation, tourism and not affecting what the daily life of our neighbors in that area implies for sector and the rest of the Andes.”
