Colombia to put Urabá port contract up for bids

At least 10 consortiums are expected to bid in December for a 1.2tn pesos (US$400mn) contract to build the Urabá port in Colombia, part of a drive to upgrade the Andean country's transport infrastructure.

To be built in Antioquia, construction will start by April 2016, and the project is expected to be operational by 2018, handling 500,000 containers annually, said Oscar Isaza, president of port concessionaire Puertos, Inversiones y Obras.

Potential bidders include companies such as China Harbour Engineering, Ferrovial, OHL, Odebrecht, Camargo Correa, Conalvías, Teixeira Duarte, Coninsa and Odinsa, Isaza said.

The first phase of the contract involves a pier to dock five 347m long ships carrying 13,000 containers, 34 cranes and a 120,000t grain storage silo, while the harbor will have to be dredged to a depth of 14m, he said. A second stage expansion would seek to increase capacity to 1mn/y containers and 240,000t in grain storage, according to Isaza.

"With this, there will be more demand," Isaza told Bogota-based newspaper Portafolio. "The most important thing for Antioquia is that it's competitive and 340km closer to the areas which generate 70% of the country's GDP."

The government of President Juan Manuel Santos has lined up 19 port projects totaling US$1.26bn in investment to handle Colombia's growing exports of crude oil, minerals and agricultural produce. Projects include a Promigas facility on the Caribbean coast, the Gulf of Morrosquillo grain terminal and Puerto Solo in Buenaventura.

Private investment in Colombia's highways, ports and railways grew 24% in 2014 to almost 4.6tn pesos, according to figures from national infrastructure agency ANI.