Terminal Cuenca del Plata (TCP) presented this Friday the final project for its expansion within the port of Montevideo. The investment will exceed US$ 600 million and will generate 1,500 direct jobs.
The project is part of the agreement that the government signed with the Belgian multinational Katoen Natie (majority shareholder of TCP) in February 2021 for the extension of the terminal’s concession until 2081.
Present at the presentation were President Luis Lacalle Pou, the Minister of Transportation, José Luis Falero, and the President of the National Ports Administration (ANP), Juan Curbelo, among other authorities. The CEO of Katoen Natie, Fernand Huts, and the president of Terminal Cuenca del Plata, Karl Huts, also arrived from Belgium.
The first to speak was the president of TCP. He stressed that when the works are finished, 3 million containers a year will be able to operate in the terminal. “To put it in perspective, it is the entire capacity that the port of Buenos Aires handles today,” he emphasized.
Photo: Leonardo Carreno.
The enlarged model of the terminal
When the terminal works with that capacity, it will already have generated 1.4 kilometers of dock and a 60-hectare container beach. These two works will allow it to receive four container ships simultaneously. Karl Huts also highlighted in his speech that 1,500 direct jobs will be created, in addition to indirect ones.
“Montevideo is ready to defend its position as the most efficient port in the region and ready to conquer the 21st century,” he said.
Photo: Leonardo Carreno.
Karl Huts, President of TCP
The striking moment of the inauguration was starred by Emanuelle, the daughter of the president of Terminal Cuenca del Plata. “Dear Mr. President (addressing Lacalle Pou), dear all. 11 years ago my parents came to Uruguay and from their love for the country my sister and I were born. I am proud to have two homelands and to be an East Belgian”, she said, drawing applause from the hundreds of people present.
Then it was the turn of Fernand Huts, who recalled that his company’s first investments in Uruguay began in 1997 and then continued. “We celebrate 20 years of Terminal Cuenca del Plata and 25 years of investment in Uruguay,” he said.
He indicated that the current injection of capital into the port of Montevideo is the most significant investment in that entire period. “We are convinced that this new investment will be the cornerstone to boost Uruguay’s growth,” said the CEO of Katoen Natie.
Photo: Leonardo Carreno.
Fernand Huts, CEO of Katoen Natie
For the government delegation, the first to speak was Minister Falero, who described the work as “a milestone.” He explained that “it has become clear” the “direction that the government had for the port of Montevideo”, with commercial activity and also with “the opening to the world” of Uruguayan products.
“Here there is a clear course: the development of our country and use the port and natural benefits for growth,” emphasized the Minister of Transportation.
He maintained that the government has “the commitment” to “show and demonstrate” to private investors that they see Uruguay “as an opportunity option.”
Finally, he thanked Katoen Natie for “trusting the Uruguayan State” and added that it was “a process that took time, but it was worth it.”
Photo: Leonardo Carreno.
Minister of Transport, José Luis Falero
The last speaker was President Lacalle Pou, who began by recalling how he met the Huts family, when he was a senator for the National Party. “Two or three years before the election something happened that is never good, which is when cooperation is exchanged for conflict,” he recounted.
The president pointed out that the conflict in the port had worsened “so much” that a “family business” like Katoen Natie was thinking of “selling.” “It’s not the day to remember things that weren’t pretty. But there was also the possibility of a trial, that’s what was happening,” Lacalle Pou said in his speech.
“I was a senator and as I was always interested in logistical and port issues, I went to El Andaluz road and asked the entire Huts family to meet. Because I thought they were the one in charge,” the president ironized in relation to Karine Huts, wife by Fernand Huts.
Photo: Leonardo Carreno.
President Lacalle Pou
The president recalled that the meeting “was long” and after eating he asked to go to the bathroom. “I entered through the kitchen and Mrs. Huts was there and I look out the window and see some canes and some tomatoes. And I ask her: what is that?” Lacalle Pou said. It was then that Karine Huts told him that she was planting tomatoes.
“And inside I said: ‘These Belgians are staying. Because if they are planting, they are continuing,'” said the president, who added that “what was needed” was to “agree.”
The works
The works plan that was presented this Friday includes the construction of a new pier to the west of the concession area to receive ships at a depth of 14 meters. It also provides for the construction, paving, lighting, channeling and rainwater works of a container beach and the remodeling of the Sarandí breakwater.
After a competitive process, Katoen Natie chose a group made up of the construction companies Jan de Nul (Belgium), Mota-Engil (Portugal) and Stiler (Uruguay) to take charge of the works.
The estimated primary investment was US$ 455 million.
One of the aspects that motivated it to be greater is the incorporation of a “cold ironing” system, which provides energy to container ships and eliminates pollution from the permanent combustion of the engines. The system energizes the ship and the entire container refrigeration system with the engines off.
When the works are completed, it will allow the terminal to mobilize a greater number of export and import containers and merchandise transits. For this, in addition to the terminal concession extension contract, a decree was also approved with new regulations for the berthing of ships in the port of Montevideo. One of the articles of that decree establishes that the National Ports Administration (ANP) must “prioritize the berthing of container ships and barges in the specialized terminal (TCP) and may only decree them in multipurpose docks (public areas of the port). in case the terminal is occupied during the period of 24 hours”.
