Montevideo must offload empties

However, Juan Olascoaga, managing director of the Montecon terminal, has said that his company already moves containers outside the port and that moving more out will not solve the congestion problem.

In his view, Montevideo needs more infrastructure and quays to avoid a short-term collapse of the port.

Given an annual increase in throughput of 10%, he argues that Montevideo will effectively reach saturation point within four years.