ANP to invest US$150mn to upgrade Montevideo port

Uruguay's national port authority ( ANP) will invest US$150mn to upgrade the country's main port in capital Montevideo, ANP president Alberto Díaz told local press. The authority will allocate US$80mn for the port's Muelle C dock, which should be operational at end-2013, while some US$40mn will be used to build a new grain terminal to handle 1Mt/y. Additionally, US$20mn will go towards a container warehouse and US$10mn to build a storage facility for imported vehicles. In the longer term, ANP expects to invest some US$180mn in the port, Díaz said, without specifying a timetable for the planned improvements. Montevideo port should have a 10% annual growth rate by 2012, after reporting a 38% year-on-year increase in cargo for the 12 months to end-September, according to the official.