Hopes are that the award earlier this year of a 30-year concession for the Peruvian Port of Salaverry will mark the start of a period of sustained growth.
Peru’s private investment agency, ProInversión, awarded the concession to Consorcio Transportadora Salaverry (CTS), a consortium made up of Tramarsa and the Tramarsa Shipping line, both of which belong to Peru’s Romero Group. The only other bidder for the concession was Notable Category, which belongs to Turkey’s Yildirim Group.
The domestic bid was chosen since it included a 10% discount on maximum tariffs to be charged for container and reefer traffic, whereas Yildirim offered no discount.
At the time, Alberto Ñecco, executive president of ProInversión, noted that the plan put forward by CTS would also see existing port workers currently employed by the National Ports Company (Enapu) retained in post.
To run the port CTS has established Salaverry Terminal Internacional (STI), whose managing director, Diego Cassinelli, is overseeing a substantial investment programme amounting to $229m.
STI’s goal is to establish the port’s existing multipurpose terminal (TPMS) as the go-to port facility within its immediate hinterland, where it competes with the ports of Callao and Paita.
Low base
It will be building on a modest existing traffic base. Between 2009 and 2017, it handled average annual traffic of 2.18m tonnes, of which dry bulk accounted for 62%, cereals 27%, mineral concentrates 8%, liquid bulk 2% and breakbulk 1%.
However, in 2015, consultant Macroconsult produced traffic projections up to 2044, which suggested that the port can expect to see an 112% rise across the 30 years of the concession. The biggest growth will come over the first five years, when traffic should increase by an annual average of 9.5%, with gains of 4.6% and 2.6% respectively over the next two five-year blocks.
The initial main driver will be dry bulk, with imported soya and fertiliser rising by a yearly average of 4.3%, sugar by 6.4% and cement-related products such as clinker, coal and slag by 12%. However, this applies to the first five years only, with growth smoothing out thereafter.
Current box traffic in Salaverry’s hinterland mostly goes to either Callao (70%) or Paita (30%), but the hope is that some of the 50,000 teu can be attracted to ATI. Around 30,000 teu conveys fishmeal and 20,000 teu agricultural or industrial products.
As for mineral concentrates traffic, which currently amounts to 160,000 tonnes annually, this is not expected to grow for the first eight years. However, there are three mining projects that could be developed within a decade of the concession starting, which could boost traffic.
Overall, within the first 20 years of the concession, demand at TPMS is expected to rise from 2.3m tonnes in 2018 to 5m tonnes.
Phased construction
Phases one and two have to be implemented within the first five years. Phase One encompasses repair of Quay 2; dredging to an eventual depth of 12.5 metres in the access channel, turning circle and alongside the quays; construction of silos for wheat and corn; repairs to the sugar storage warehouse, to the electricity system, to the administrative building, to the water and waste disposal networks; repair to scales and the acquisition of new ones; and remodelling of the gates.
Phase Two involves repair to Quay 1; expansion of Berth 1A, warehouses and dry bulk stockpile areas; and upgrades to the mineral concentrates warehouse and to the pre-port area.
Phase Three has to be implemented when cereals traffic reaches 1.2m tonnes in two consecutive 12-month periods, while Phase Four is dependent on either mineral concentrates rising to 800,000 tonnes or fertiliser or soya reaching 1.8m tonnes over two back-to-back 12-month periods.
12 grain silos with a holding capacity of 30,000 tonnes will be built for wheat and corn; as will a sugar warehouse and a 30,000-tonne fertiliser storage facility, a 30,000-tonne minerals warehouse and a 20,000-tonne soya warehouse.
As for container stacking, 20,000 square metres has been set aside for this in an area offering 120 reefer plugs. A further 13,500 square metres is also available for container storage. One 80-tonne mobile harbour crane will be acquired for Phase One and a second as part of Phase two, while two 4+1 reachstackers are earmarked for purchase too.
STI will also install Shore Tension units to ensure that vessels are held more securely while on berth.
