Portuguese government drops Barreiro from budget

An earlier version of the budget stated that the location for a new container terminal to serve the Lisbon metropolitan area would be formed through the development of Almada, Barreiro and Seixal on the southern bank of the Tagus.

This change in emphasis could suggest that the government is once again looking at developing closer links between port infrastructure at Lisbon and Setúbal, which was suggested by the previous administration but never acted on. This is expected to produce similar results to building the Barreiro terminal, but require less investment.

The budget also sets out the need to evaluate, prepare and launch several strategic interventions in Portuguese ports, particularly with regard to increased container handling capacity at Leixões and Sines.

Significantly, the budget mentions that other port projects may also be evaluated, such as the proposed new container terminal at Leixões, which would offer draft of 14 metres, and expansion of PSA’s terminal at Sines.