For his part, the CEO of Paracel pointed out that the company’s intention is to “a properly functioning waterway and ports”. “Obviously if you can work with a greater draft, like the 34 feet that the mayor mentions, it is a big saving, both for the environment and for the economy, because much fewer ships are needed that go to medium cargo,” said Olofsson, who leads on an interim basis the Paraguayan company producing eucalyptus pulp.
Asked about the volume of cargo they intend to transport and its characteristics, the businessman explained: “It is 1.8 million tons per year in the first line. Then there are forecasts that more production lines will come to Paraguay, and other products that are not from Paracel as well. We see that there is an important win-win between Paraguay, the industry that is growing strongly there, and working with Uruguay as a port of the high seas”.
The port of Fray Bentos for the region
The use that Paraguay could make of the port of Fray Bentos is not the first case this year in which the Rio Negro port lends its docks to cargo from countries in the region.
In this sense, at the end of January, the National Ports Administration (ANP) from Uruguay signed on February 7 with the Port Services Administration (ASP) of bolivian an agreement so that the latter country can use the port of Fray Bentos under a “free port” regime, and thus carry out its maritime business through it.
This is because Bolivia moves most of its 10 million tons of goods through the Peaceful, but to get to that ocean you must use road transport that goes up on The Andes —5,000 meters— and then travels 2,500 kilometers. In recent months, this dynamic has been hindered both in imports and exports due to political and social conflicts in Peru.
The agreement was made on the free port regime”, but with the limitation imposed by the depth of the passes, which oblige the ships that set sail from Fray Bentos to have a maximum load between 16,000 and 18,000 tons, to later complete the capacity in Montevideo or in Argentine ports.
Source: Ambito
