Tender for Costa Rica port concession attracts over 20 firms

A total of 23 international firms are interested in the concession to modernize and operate the Caldera port in Costa Rica. 

The 30-year concession involves construction and maintenance works and the right to develop and operate the port, according to the tender notice.

Representatives of the firms have visited to Costa Rica to attend information sessions held by the Costa Rican institute for Pacific ports (Incop), local media reported. 

“The representatives of more than 20 companies were able to obtain detailed information about this competitive and open process, including the technical, financial, environmental, social, and legal requirements that bidders must meet,” local daily El Financiero quoted Incop executive president Wagner Quesada Céspedes as saying.

The tender was published by Incop on October 30 and bids will be received on March 3. 

The current concession is held by Sociedad Portuaria de Caldera and will expire in 2026.  

The modernization works will last around 30 months and will turn the port into a multipurpose facility with capacity to handle dry and refrigerated containers, general cargo, solid and liquid bulk, as well as passenger ships.

Major problems

Operations in some of the port’s container yards and docks surpassed 90% of their capacity in 2023 and hit 95% last week, severely affecting cargo loading and unloading, according to local media. 

A terminal is considered congested when it surpasses 65-70% of capacity. 

Importers are now paying around US$1,000-1,500 extra per container to unload them in Panama and then move them by land to Costa Rica, via the Paso Canoas border facility, daily El Observador reported Arturo Rosales, president of Costa Rica’s chamber of commerce (CCCR), as saying.

“Due to the grave situation that we’re experiencing, a large majority of the importers that used to bring freight into Puerto Caldera have been forced to bring everything through Panama despite the higher [cost],” Rosales said, adding that measures the government is taking to alleviate the problem are “insufficient.”