Katoen Natie to invest $455m in Montevideo TCP terminal

Photo: Wikipedia Commons (Puerto_de_Montevideo)_Cuidad_Vieja_y_Puerto_de_Montevideo_131003-0879-jikatu_(10099992434)_(cropped).jpg
Belgian logistics firm Katoen Natie and the Uruguayan Government reached an agreement for a new additional $455m investment in the Port of Montevideo’s Terminal Cuenca del Plata (TCP).

The agreement includes a 50-year extension of the concession contract with a view to turning the Port of Montevideo into a regional hub. The execution of the project will begin immediately.

This investment project represents the maximum expansion of the concession area, including the construction of a second container yard of approximately 22 hectares in addition to the existing area, and a second quay wall of 700m-long dredged to 14m in depth.

At the two quay walls, together 1,300 metres, the company will be able to handle four container ships simultaneously, with in time 12 to 15 ultramodern ship-to-shore gantry cranes and 50 straddle carriers (and / or RTG cranes).

The new container terminal will have an annual capacity of 2.5m teu per year.

After the project is completed, the Port of Montevideo will have a Specialised Container Terminal, which will more than double its annual capacity and will allow TCP to operate the last generation of container vessels of 400 m length.

“Terminal Cuenca del Plata is already the most efficient container terminal in South America, but with this new investment we are now positioning the terminal as an indispensable link in the list of the most important hub ports in the continent, and, at the same time, making the terminal more attractive for Uruguayan exporters”, explained Vincent Vandecauter, ceo of TCP.

 “This enormous commitment confirms our trust in Uruguay as an investment country and one-of–the-places-to-be, and in the Port of Montevideo as an excellent logistics hub,” said Karl Huts, director of Katoen Natie Group.

In 2001 Katoen Natie participated in the auction of the shares of Terminal Cuenca del Plata , to manage and operate the Specialised Container Terminal in the Port of Montevideo, becoming owner of 80% of the company’s shares. During the first 20 years of the concession term, over $250m was invested in make TCP.

TAGS: Americas