Delays in unloading cargo ships at berth cause additional costs to importers of between $3,000 to $20,000 per day, a situation caused by the outdated infrastructure of the port of Puerto Cortes, Honduras' main port, reported El Heraldo.hn.
According to a technical study obtained by the newspaper, the authorities were aware of the situation, and that pier three or the solid grain terminal of Puerto Cortes, had reached the permissible capacity rate of 65% and was in a state of collapse. For 40 years any action to remedy the situation has been postponed.
"The economic cost of this logistics burden is born, unwittingly, by the more than 8.2 million Hondurans consumers every time they buy a loaf of bread, a pound of chicken or a bushel of beans. Why? Simply because 67.4% of direct food produce, such as cereals and grains, passes along the pier, as well as those goods that indirectly affect production, such as fertilizers, which are all affected by excess costs and obsolete methods used to load and unload goods," reported the website.
The current government has approved a huge investment to modernize the infrastructure of the bulk cargo pier.
Source: elheraldo.hn
More on this topic
May 2012
The state-owned National Port Authority, Honduras, will be buying equipment in order to start the renovation of bulk dock at Puerto Cortes.
Dario Gamez, manager of the state National Port Company (ENP in Spanish), said the company will soon be inviting bids for the purchase of equipment for modernization of the dock 5 or the bulk dock at Puerto Cortes.
July 2011
The price reduction of the new dock at Puerto Caldera will require importers to have a lot of trucks to carry their loads at once.
After three years of back and forth with the project by Sociedad Portuaria de Caldera (manager of the dock) and the Costa Rican Institute of Pacific Ports (INCOP) an agreement has been reached to lower the construction costs from the $44 million projected to $30 million, by eliminating the construction of silos and a conveyor belt for bulk products.
December 2011
The Cabinet has approved the creation of a special trust for the construction of a bulk cargo terminal at Puerto Cortez.
A press release from the President of Honduras reads:
The Council of Ministers approved on Tuesday (December 20, 2011) a contract for a special trust for the construction of a bulk cargo terminal at Puerto Cortes, as part of the expansion and modernization of the national port platform.
April 2012
The Honduran Council of Ministers has approved a draft decree relating to a trust agreement for the structuring, development and financing of the operation of the bulk cargo terminal at Puerto Cortes.
From a press release by the Presidency of Honduras:
The Council of Ministers, of the government of President Porfirio Lobo Sosa , approved the draft decree on Tuesday relating to a trust agreement for the structuring, development and financing of the operation of a bulk cargo terminal at Puerto Cortes, at the request of the National Commission for the Promotion of Public-Private Partnerships (COALIANZA).
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