South America’s second busiest port to receive privately funded upgrade

Compañia de Puertos Asociados S.A (Compas S.A.) and APM terminals recently announced a $200 million joint venture operation to upgrade Compas S.A.’s Cartagena Terminal, a multipurpose terminal located in Columbia.

Compas S.A., a Colombian-based port and terminal operating company, will continue to act as the concession holder for the port strategically situated on the northern tip of South America on Columbia’s Caribbean coast, but APM Terminals will receive a 51 percent majority share for its part in the joint venture.

“Colombia represents one of the most promising investment opportunities in the region and we are pleased to participate in the country’s ongoing economic growth and development,” APM Terminals CEO Kim Fejfer said. “Cartagena has enormous significance in South America ports and this JV underlines APM Terminals growth and investment plans.”

With an annual throughput capacity of 250,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) units and 1.5 million tons of general cargo, Cartagena Terminal will become APM Terminals’ sixth facility in South America. Combined together, APM Terminal’s network on the continent can now annually handle an estimated container throughput of at least 2 million TEU.

The Cartagena Terminal itself was South America’s second busiest port in 2014. Only Chile and Brazil outrank Columbia in total TEU throughput per year.