This Wednesday, at the presentation of the port terminal there were current authorities and former government officials. President Luis Lacalle Pou, before cutting the tape with his back to the bay, he asked: “Is Victor Rossi around? Minister, come.” Within seconds, the former Broad Front Transport Minister was on the podium next to the president.
At the presentation was the executive director of UPM, Jussi Pesonen, who highlighted the trust that the company has placed in Uruguay for three decades. In addition, he described the country as serious, reliable and with clear rules.
Within the future operations of the Finnish in the port of Montevideo is expected to operate 100 cargo ships per year. The terminal has the capacity to handle 2 million tons of cellulose per year. It will generate 100 direct jobs, plus an additional 200 for loading and unloading ships and will be able to receive six pulp trains per day. The terminal has a 51,000-square-meter covered storage warehouse, with access roads for the railway, a control room and offices. The investment in the terminal was US$ 280 million.
Photo: Leonardo Carreno.
UPM port terminal
The vice president of project and logistics of UPM, Xavier Solarisaid that the new terminal will grant logistical independence to cellulose.
“It is a terminal that is inside a port 13 meters deep, which will be connected to a state-of-the-art train and which, in turn, has its maritime routes connected to other ports in the region,” he said.
“That allows the cellulose to be taken out of the country directly to international markets. You do not need the ship to complete cargo in another port with some competitor. That, for any agro-exporting country, is very important”, added Solari.
The four landmarks of Lacalle
When he arrived at the port of Montevideo, the president met briefly with UPM representatives.
During his speech, Lacalle Pou recalled that when he was in the opposition he had said that if he came to government he would “continue what had been done well, change what was done badly and try to do things that had never been done.”
“They criticized me a lot because we were opposition. But all governments, throughout history, have done the same thing,” he added.
There he mentioned some events that he described as milestones. The first was the forest law from 1987 (during the first government of Julio María Sanguinetti); the second, the port law (approved during the administration of his father, Luis Alberto Lacalle); the third was the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with Finland in 2003 (in the government of Jorge Batlle) and, finally, the second plant of UPM. In at least two cases, he pointed out, the proposals later materialized did not have the full approval of the political system. “There were people who had vision, commitment, who received criticism, but understood that this was the way to go,” he said.
Photo: Leonardo Carreno.
Lacalle in presentation of UPM terminal
He explained that the transition from the opposition to the government took place while the negotiation with the pulp mill for the installation of the second plant, in Paso de los Toros, was taking place. He said that there were extensive meetings with company representatives to discuss some issues that were not clear.
“We had nuances or small differences that were leading to civilized negotiation in respect of contracts and the vision of the companies of wanting to continue, in some way they straightened out things that had not been finished in the best way,” said Lacalle Pou.
PSU
UPM port terminal in Montevideo.
He also mentioned that it would be important for the country for the pulp mill to carry out more production processes in its local factories. “We always dream that Uruguay should have more possibilities to follow the industrial process. When we get together with the people from UPM, they tell us that it is not possible for now. We say we want,” she stated.
