No stranger to competition

In 1996, Grupo Portuario commenced operations on quay 13, handling bulk solids, cars and containers, although ship size is limited given an 8 metre draught alongside. Then, in September 2009, Cementeras Asociadas S.A. (CEMAS) also began handling cement at its facility on quay 15.

Now Terminal de Contenedores de Buenaventura (TCBUEN) new terminal, opening at the end of the year, presents a new threat.

Because of the arrival of TCBUEN, SPRBUN does not expect to improve on last year’s traffic of 10m tonnes, which was up 2.5% overall on the previous year.

However, in spite of the global economic downturn, SPRBUN’s overall foreign trade grew by 8% last year, although imported containers fell by 9.3% at a terminal able to accommodate 5,500 teu vessels. For 2009, throughput declined from 707,600 teu in 2008 to 602,000 teu, which Mr Chinea stresses reflects the recession.

“We expect to see a resurgence in container traffic at the port as from 2011 following the signing of new free trade agreements with emerging economies in the Far East. However, because of the competition from TCBUEN, we believe our own growth will be in line with Colombia’s GDP,” he says.