b'2American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comExpansion of Montevideo TCP container terminal ups anteLATIN AMERICA TRADE Expansion of Montevideos Terminal Cuenca del Plata(TCP)standstodoublePortscapacitytoBI-ANNUAL2.5 million TEU and may be poised to become the gateway to the Southern Cone.By Matt Miller, AJOTUruguays main port ter- strengthensTCPsstanding minal operator of MontevideoagainsttheotherMontevi-will soon begin constructiondeo port operator, Montecon, ona700-metersquaywallowned by the Ultramar Group and enlarge the existing con- ofChileandAtcoCanada. tainer yard, while the govern- The two operators now stand ment will deepen the channel.side-by-sideintheport,a Thenewexpansion,sched- crampedspacewhichis uled for completion in earlylocated in the heart of the old 2025, will allow the port tocolonial part of the city. not only accommodate moreIt has been an extremely and bigger vessels, but enableoddarrangement,tosaythe ittobettercompeteagainstleast. The port authority played ports in Argentina and partsboth sides against each other, ofBrazilforregionaltradetakingrentfromonewhile in the area of South America(EXPANSIONcontinued known as the Southern Cone. on page 4) Montevideos Terminal Cuenca del Plata (TCP)This development marks a remarkable turnaround from thedayswhentheportwas mired in controversy, factional fights and bad blood, its main containerterminaloperator ready to abandon the port and give up on the country. In 2016, we said, okay, there is only one thing we can do: We try to sell our facili-EXPANDING CAP Y TOmoveon,explainedVin- O ACIT Aties, try to cut our losses, andFL RID ScentVandecauteer,general manager of operator Katoen Natie.Butwithanagree-mentwiththegovernment, we need to invest and go for the future.Last year, Uruguays gov- DISTRIBUTIONernmentandKatoenNatieHUBresolved a years-long dispute, whichendedininternational arbitration. The result: Katoen Natie will spend an estimated $455 million to expand its ter-minal, which is called Termi-nal Cuenca del Plata, or TCP. Inreturn,KatoenNatiewill getafifty-yearextensionon its concession, which was due to expire in 2031. No congestion Expanded terminal capacity with plenty of Through reclamation, theTampa/Orlando I-4 Corridor: 400 million SFroom for growthoperator will expand anotherof distribution center space Multiple round-trip truck deliveries per day 22 hectares of container yards;from Port to distribution centers25hectaresarenowavail- E-commerce, consumer goods, perishables able. It will add the new quayand building materials New and expanded container services with wall to an existing 638 metersOne of the hottest industrial real estateCentral America, Mexico and Asiawall and install more than amarkets in the U.S.dozenship-to-shorecranes. The government, for its part, haspromisedtodeepenthe channel from its existing 12.5 meters (41feet) to 14 metersWWW.PORTTB.COM(46 feet).The enlarged terminal will allowMontevideotohandle three or four ships simultane-ously, including post-Panamax vessels of up to 400 meters in length.Allthiswillpoten-tially more than double annual throughput to more than 2.5 million TEUs,fromcurrent capacityofaboutonemil-lionTEUs.However,Mon-tevideoin2020sawonly 765,000 TEUs. A greementS trengthenStCP Notably,theagreement'