Region XII state port company H1 net profit up 13.5%

Southern Chile's Region XII state port company Empresa Portuaria Austral (EPA) posted a 135mn-peso (US$218,000) net profit in the first half, up 13.5% from 1H03, EPA said in a filing to the country's securities regulator (SVS). For the period, operating profit was up 6.9% to 195mn pesos and revenue fell 16.1% to 882mn pesos due to a weaker US dollar. The port moves over 400,000t/y. Last year, EPA signed a protocol agreement with Chile's state oil company Enap and Spain's Valencia port authority (Autoridad Portuaria de Valencia) to begin studies into a multipurpose port project, know as a Puerto Magallanes. Economic pre-feasibility studies for the project are expected in the coming weeks. A group of Valencia investors known as Consorcio de Inversiones Portuarias backed by the port authority is carrying out the studies on required investment, expected traffic flows and growth potential. Once complete, the economic studies, along with the technical and demand studies, will be reviewed to determine if advanced studies and the drafting of an executive project are warranted. The port would be built at the Cabo Negro-Laredo industrial park on Enap property, on the Straits of Magellan, 28.5km north of regional capital Punta Arenas.