Govt. accepts Paloma bulk terminal proposal

Uruguay's government has accepted a proposal submitted by company Puerto Graneles to build and operate a bulk cargo terminal at Paloma port in Rocha department, the presidency announced. The proposal was submitted to the public works ministry's national hydrographic department (DNH), which administers some of the country's ports and will now prepare the bidding process. The terminal will initially handle wood chips. A DNH official told BNamericas that preliminary figures place the terminal's cost at some US$30mn and that bidding rules for the BOT concession could be ready in a couple of months. Further details were not available. The official said that the bulk terminal project will not hamper plans to build a deep-water cargo port at Paloma, and that this initiative remains on standby. The DNH launched bidding for the US$120mn-150mn BOT concession project in 1999 that proved unsuccessful, when foreign companies said the region was too risky given Brazil's economic crisis at that time. Plans for a 20-year concession project to upgrade and operate Punta del Este tourist port in Maldonado department, and a concession for Paysandu port in the department of the same name also remain on standby.