Container movement at the port of Montevideo increased by 5% in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period in 2016, according to data from the National Port Administration (ANP).
In the period between January and September, The terminal handled 423.768 containers compared to 403.197 in 2016, between exports, imports and transit of merchandise.
In the breakdown by operation, the ANP reported that 209.490 containers were loaded, a decrease of 0,5%, compared to the nine months of last year when there were 199.663. In turn, unloading movements totaled 214.278 compared to 203.534, with an increase of 5,4% in the year-on-year comparison, according to official information.
Data from the first nine months suggest that the port of Montevideo will end the year with an increase in container movementIn 2016, the terminal handled 542.631 units between loading and unloading operations, both full and empty. In that year, the terminal had a 9% increase in movements, with the return to the terminal of Argentine merchandise in transit.
In November 2013, Argentina's Undersecretariat of Ports and Waterways banned the transshipment of merchandise in Uruguayan ports, with the aim of strengthening its ports.
The measure had an impact in Montevideo and caused a drop in activity during 2014 and 2015.
The same agency also made another decision that affected transit activity at the Nueva Palmira terminal. In this case, it limited the size of the barge convoys that traveled along the waterway to the Colonia port, largely from Paraguay.
The situation changed when Mauricio Macri took office as president in December 2015. There, the president met with Tabaré Vázquez and informed him that the ban was no longer in effect. Argentine merchandise arrives at the port of Montevideo and is then transshipped onto overseas vessels that take it to its final destination.
Source: The Observer
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