The Vice President, in exercise of the Presidency Danilo Astori and Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, Tabaré Aguerre, inaugurated on Tuesday the expansion works of the company Terminales Graneleras Uruguayas (TGU, Uruguayan Grain Terminals) at the port of Nueva Palmira. It is an investment of $ 25 million in order to build three silos of 10.000 tons each.
TGU, in which Nodus is involved, provides facilities for loading and unloading of ships, barges and trucks at ports of Nueva Palmira and Fray Bentos.
The activities developed are through a concession that allows TGU to manage infrastructure of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, and the use of the National Port Authority berths.
The current rythm of operation at Nueva Palmira terminal is between 600 and 900 tons of grain per hour. When the works are done, operating rates will rise to 1,400 tonnes per hour.
The president of Terminales Graneleras Uruguayas, Christian Bolz said tasks are designed to “increase the speed of the port terminal load between 30% and 50% over current levels.”
Installing a module on the ocean pier equipped with grain conveyors and scales plus a river barges pier are some of the items which will help to “speed up the grain traffic at Nueva Palmira.”
At the beginning of the last decade, TGU handled some 300,000 tonnes of grain. Currently, more than 2 million tons are operated every year.
“Production in the region is growing faster than the infrastructure serving such production export logistics and, therefore, to improve our capacity is a must. We made this investment having in mind a productive potential growth, “said Christian Bolz.
Astori highlighted the importance of the extension works in a “truly strategic trade and investment flows area”.
Meanwhile, Aguerre said “it was necessary to improve infrastructure and the offer of the company which served the purpose of improving the capacity of silos, the loading speed, the ability to load and unload barge to support the strategy of enhancing the navigability of the Uruguay River as a way to decongest roads, was accepted. “