A recent technical study by Argentina’s National Technological University (NTU) revealed that ports in La Plata and Dock Sud can fully support container volumes and the flow of trade in the metropolitan areas of Greater Buenos Aires and Greater La Plata, according to a recent ICTSI’s announcement.
Currently, the country’s containerised cargo are primarily facilitated in the Buenos Aires main port located at the city center.
Both terminals at La Plata and Dock Sud, operated by TecPlata S.A. and Exolgan S.A., respectively, can absorb approximately 86%, which translates to 1.5 million TEU, of Argentina’s total cargo volume, with the capacity to exceed more than 3.6 million TEU over the next three years if planned investments for both terminals, worth around US$361 million, start today.
“The metropolitan areas of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital, and La Plata, Buenos Aires Province’s capital, are geographically contiguous and the combined markets make Buenos Aires-La Plata an economic powerhouse,” commented Bruno Porchietto, TecPlata CEO.
He went on to explain, “TecPlata can serve the Buenos Aires-La Plata markets and help improve the maritime logistics in Argentina. While TecPlata is at the center of a growing market, the terminal is outside urban congestion. We see this study validating our view that Argentine logistics can be enhanced with the current infrastructure that are currently outside of the city proper but still within the greater metropolitan areas.”
TecPlata is ready to invest more than US$101.6 million and expand its capacity to up to 1.5 million TEU, according to the global port operator International Container Terminals Services, Inc. (ICTSI), which noted, “This is pending a decision by the Argentine government, should it resolve to close the current port. The move is aligned with most modern metropolitan cities in the world, which have located their commercial ports just outside the city’s boundaries but still within the greater metropolitan area for better efficiencies and advantages for their citizens.”
