COLOMBIA: Puerto Antioquia gets large investment from GIP, leader in global infrastructure
Valora Analitik – The Puerto Antioquia project in the caribbean coast of Colombia, a work that promises to be one of the main routes of international trade for the country through the Urabá region and of which the Department’s Government and the Institute for the Development of Antioquia (IDEA) are a key part of its drive Today, it obtained important resources to materialize its development as one of the ports with the greatest projection in Colombia.
This is because Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a leading investor in world infrastructure, announced credit funds through GIP Caps for a term loan of US $ 110 million in this project.
Astris Finance, financial advisor, coordinated the development and financing of the project, GIP said.
Puerto Antioquia will be developed by the consortium made up of CMA Terminal Holdings; the third largest shipping line in the world, Eiffage and Ports Investments and Works, as the next operator of the port, in addition to the private consortium of banana producers and exporters, members of the Augura association.
The project is backed by long-term volume commitments with the consortium and will be strategically positioned as the most suitable port in Colombia, due to its location, with respect to the ports of Buenaventura in the Pacific and Cartagena in the Caribbean.
This, since Puerto Antioquia will be geographically positioned to receive a large part of the traffic of dry containers from origins such as Medellín, Bogotá, the Eje Cafetero (Coffee region) and other regions of the interior of Colombia.
Puerto Antioquia represents GIP Caps’ inaugural investment and GIP Credit’s second capital commitment to Latin America, the fund said.
“We are very pleased to have made this transaction with Puerto Antioquia and its sponsors,” said Jennifer Powers, GIP Partner and President of GIP Credit.
She added that “Puerto Antioquia is a historic project for Colombia and it is expected that the dynamics of trade in the country will change given its strategic location. It is expected to receive immediate loading and create a significant positive impact in the Urabá region. The port will provide a significant socioeconomic impact in the region, as evidenced by the multilateral financial support of its main lender, one of the most important banks in Latin America, “added Powers.
What else does Puerto Antioquia promise?
Puerto Antioquia plans to become one of the main multipurpose terminals with the movement of 6.6 million tons of cargo per year.
In 2019, the concession contract was signed by the National Government and it has projected an investment plan of approximately US $ 300 million for the construction of the infrastructure that includes, among other works: a dock with five docking positions, a double viaduct roadway for the transit of tractor-trailers between the platform and the land port, which allows the fluidity of up to eight tractor units.
The concession will last 30 years and the port terminal will be designed to serve container ships up to 366 meters in length and 14,000 TEUS (unit equivalent to twenty feet), with a depth of 14.5 meters.
Puerto Antioquia will also be connected to the 4G Autopista Mar 1 and Autopista Mar 2 highway projects, specializing in general cargo and containers, where vehicles and products such as cereals, plantains and bananas will be handled, among others.
By Valora Analitik
