El Salvador seeks US$350mn from Korea to upgrade Acajutla port

The El Salvadoran government is seeking funding of US$350mn from Korea’s Eximbank to upgrade Acajutla port, local media reported. 

The president of autonomous port commission CEPA, Federico Anliker, was quoted by news outlet Prensa Latina as saying that the funds will be used to more than double the capacity of what is the main port in the country and which handles 53% of El Salvador’s foreign trade operations. 

The feasibility studies for the project were carried out by firm Dohwa Engineering in 2021, the report said. 

The aim is to increase capacity from 280,000 TEUs a year to 800,000. The agreement with Eximbank will be signed soon, Anliker said, according to the report.

“The Acajutla port is the most important logistics hub for El Salvador in terms of imports and exports of raw materials and finished goods, where capacity to handle freight has been exceeded due to the dynamic economy,” the country’s presidency said in August 2022.

According to The Load Star news outlet, the South Korean government had agreed to help El Salvador upgrade Acajutla port in 2021, when works were expected to begin in 2022 and include the construction of container terminals. No reason for the delay was offered.