Santos' container terminal starts a $100 million expansion project

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

19 Mar 2008

Santos' Tecondi container terminal (Terminal para Contêineres da Margem Direita S/A) has confirmed a $100 million expansion project to almost triple its handling capacity up to 700,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year.Reports say that officials are pressing ahead with urgency as the proposed development ''cannot come fast enough for busy Santos port.''2007 saw Tecondi handle 260,000 TEUs, already surpassing its designed capacity of 250,000 TEUs.This was a 17% jump from 2006 throughput, a growth rate which if repeated this year could seriously strain the terminal's handling capacity.Development plans will include expansion of the quay and deepening of alongside depth from 12.5 metres to 15 metres, thereby allowing post-Panamax vessels to call.Tecondi director Luis Araujo has been quoted saying that ''we really do need the extra space.  It can't come quick enough especially as we have a number of new service calls expected for the near future.''Araujo also quashed industry rumours of a partnership with APM Terminals BV. in Santos, but went on to confirm that they have had ''an enquiry'' from ''another European operator.”Tecondi's 2007 throughput makes it Santos' third busiest container terminal.  The busiest container facility in Santos is Santos Brasil, which handled 1.26 million TEUs in 2007, followed by the Libra Terminals T-37 facility with 790,300 TEUs.