ICTSI Buenos Aires investing $101M to modernize Argentina's port system

TecPlata, International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI)'s subsidiary in Buenos Aires, is investing over $101.6 million to expand its capacity to 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent Units (TEUs) and modernize Argentina’s port system, the company announced Thursday, June 9.

However, this is hinged on the Argentine government's decision to close the current port about 59 kilometers away.

At present, the country’s containerized cargo are primarily facilitated in the city’s main port located at the city center.

Most modern metropolitan cities in the world have relocated their commercial ports just outside the city’s boundaries but still within the greater metropolitan area for better efficiencies and advantages for their citizens.

Citing Argentina’s National Technological University study, the ICTSI unit maintained that ports in La Plata and Dock Sud are capable of supporting the country's expected demand of more 3.6 million TEUs in the next three years.

The combined contiguous markets of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital, and La Plata, Buenos Aires Province’s capital, is an economic powerhouse, stressed TecPlata chief executive Bruno Porchietto.

TecPlata S.A's terminal at La Plata and Exolgan S.A's terminal at Dock Sud can handle 1.5 million TEUs, or 86 percent of Argentina’s 1.7 million TEUs total cargo volume todate.

However, both terminals need to invest around $361 million to expand their capacities to cope with the doubling of demand by 2025.

“TecPlata can serve the Buenos Aires-La Plata markets and help improve the maritime logistics in Argentina," according to Porchietto.

"While TecPlata is at the center of a growing market, the terminal is outside urban congestion," he noted.

The National Technological University study "validated TecPlata's view that Argentine logistics can be enhanced with the current infrastructure that are currently outside of the city proper but still within the greater metropolitan areas,” Porchietto elaborated.

According to the study, La Plata allows navigation of vessels of up to 337 meters in length and 48.31 meters in beam.

Maritime simulations commissioned by the TecPlata show that the terminal can host up to 360 m long vessels.

TecPlata can likewise receive ships that require 45 feet of draft and longer length, which is almost 10 feet more than what the Port of Buenos Aires can handle.

This follows an increase in size of modern container ships, and should Argentina’s main waterway in the River Plate be dredged to more than the current 34 feet.

TecPlata likewise enjoys excellent terrestrial connectivity with the rest of the country via road and rail.

The report includes traffic simulation studies from 2018 which forecasts that there would be no congestion problems on roads leading to the port zone, estimated at 373,000 TEUs per year.

This value can be increased to 623,000 TEUs per year if the port’s operational hours will be extended to a full day.

Meanwhile, TecPlata’s connection to Buenos Aires’ broad gauge freight network through the Gral. Roca Line allows it to attain high efficiency while reducing transportation costs and traffic congestion across major roads.

Right now, majority of Argentina’s volume is concentrated at the Port of Buenos Aires within the city’s Retiro ward, which is experiencing capacity and congestion issues.