In Chile, the head of the national shipowners’ association Asociación Nacional de Armadores (ANA) has forecast a prompt re-tendering of Terminal 2 (T2) at the Port of Valparaíso following the departure of concessionaire Terminal Cerros de Valparaíso (TCVAL).

TCVAL recently surrendered its concession, arguing that the time taken to complete the environmental impact assessment meant that it could no longer make a profit from going ahead with the implementation of the project.

Ricardo Tejada of the ANA said that the cancellation could also negatively impact on the proposed rail link to Valparaíso and on the port’s intermodal activities.

The regional mayor for the Valparaíso region, Jorge Martinez, added that in a worst-case scenario, port workers might even be forced to seek employment in the nearby port of San Antonio.

Gloria Hutt, Chile’s Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, has reiterated the government's commitment to move forward with the Terminal 2 project because of the importance it has in the growth of the Port of Valparaíso, which is constrained by its existing capacity.

She added that T2 would go ahead “as conceived”, since there is no time to make further modifications as any changes would involve having to go through another environmental impact assessment.