It has exceeded half a million TEUs so far in 2024, according to the National Port Administration of Uruguay (ANP).
The port of Montevideo (Uruguay) completed the first part of 2024 with a record operation of containers moved and a year-on-year increase of 12%.
The National Ports Administration (ANP) reported that in the first half of the year, 581,635 TEUs (unit of measurement equivalent to a 20-foot container) were moved, compared to 520,017 last year.
That marked a growth of 12% and 61,618 TEUs more in the year-on-year comparison.
The growth is greater when compared to the first quarter of 2019 (before covid-19) when there were 359,410 TEUs. The increase in that case was 62%.
The movements include export, import and transit containers of merchandise and are carried out at the Cuenca del Plata Terminal (owned by the Belgian multinational Katoen Natie, with state participation) and in the public areas where Montecon basically carries out its activity.
The port of Montevideo has just closed three consecutive years with maximum merchandise movements. In 2021 it moved 978,069 TEUs (a record until that time), in 2022 it reached 1,084,812 and rose to 1,120,000 in 2023.
The dynamism of the operation was produced by the growth in the arrival of merchandise in transit from Paraguay. Most of that country's foreign trade stops in Uruguay.
In the case of exports, the cargo transits on barges along the waterway to the port of Montevideo and there it is loaded on container ships to the final destination.
The objective is to capture more cargo from that country to strengthen the port against Buenos Aires, its main competitor.
For this, the ANP aims to deepen the access to Montevideo to 14 meters. After years, the Administrative Commission of the Río de la Plata (CARP) authorized the dredging in January and fulfilled a long-standing aspiration of the local authorities.
The greater depth will allow the arrival of container ships of greater size and loading capacity and that will give the port of Montevideo the possibility of capturing more regional merchandise.
One of the bets that goes in this direction is to get Bolivian exporters to choose Uruguay as an outlet to the sea.
The president of the ANP, Juan Curbelo, said in an interview with El Observador that the intention is to maintain sustained growth with all types of cargo, whether containerized, bulk or minerals.
“That's what it's about; to provide the greatest number of services. Not only with our own merchandise, but with cargo from the region,” he noted.
“Thinking, obviously, about Uruguayan cargo, but especially about that from third countries. That is where the true growth of our ports lies,” he added.
ANP COLLECTION
The ANP also reported that the first semester closed with a historical maximum of income. Billing in that period was US$99.8 million -compared to US$94.1 million in 2023-, with a year-on-year increase of 6%. The increase compared to the same period in 2019 was 29.8%.
In 2023, management closed with profits of US$ 49.7 million, although below a year ago when it had obtained US$ 102.3 million.
