A new container terminal in Montevideo
Belgian company Katoen Natie has invested 380 million euros in building a brand new container terminal in the Uruguayan capital's port.
When it was founded in 1854, the Belgian company's sole enterprise was the reception of cotton arriving by boat, hence its name ' Katoen Natie ' ('cotton nation' in English). Today, it has become a leading player in logistics, overseeing the loading and unloading of goods across the globe. The company employs more than 17,000 people across 150 terminals in 36 countries over five continents.
The Antwerp logistics company has been active in Antwerp since 1996. Local authorities granted them a concession allowing them to operate the Cuenca del Plata terminal, managing one million containers per year in the port of the capital Montevideo.
Today, Katoen Natie CEO Fernand Huts, can be credited with a new agreement allowing his company to significantly expand their existing terminal's capacity, which it can continue to operate until at least 2081. With an investment of 380 million euros, the terminal will be expanded by 22 hectares of land reclaimed from the sea. Eventually, this will see the terminal's processing capacity increase to two and a half million containers per year.
The Antwerp group's ambition is to build the most modern port terminal in South America.