Buenos Aires Dock Sud

active

Exolgan S.A. runs a container port terminal at Dock Sud, Buenos Aires, which started operations in March 1995. The contract was awarded in 1993, and Exolgan invested US$ 100 million in reconstructing the abandoned facility. Currently it has an annual container turnover of 250,000 units, representing 35% of the containers foreign trade in Argentina. In 1997, Hamburger Hafen-und Lagerhaus Aktiengesellschaft acquired a 15% share for US$ 25 million. In 2001, Exolgan started the construction of a multipurpose terminal that will cost US$ 30 million, financed by the German bank KFW. The IFC approved an investment facility on June 9, 2009; signed the loan documents on June 26, 2009 and invested in the project on August 27, 2009. Part of the financing was to refinance existing debt and part of it was earmarked for new construction. It was unclear how much was earmarked for either category. Financing comprised a US $50 million IFC A loan, a $25m B loan and $27.9m equity. The B loan is a syndication of commercial banks under the IFC umbrella. The work program consisting of the expansion of an existing 500,000 TEU port to include: dredging to 12 meters, construction and extension of the berths and container yard, purchase of new equipment and land, and other investments including upgrading IT systems and facilities. The Exolgan terminal, which lies only a short drive from the Puerto Nuevo, but outside the city limits, is considered the main reason why rates have plummeted in recent years. Exolgan S.A. which also runs a facility near Santos in Brazil, owns its land and therefore does not have to pay concession charges and, falling under provincial jurisdiction, has additional advantages from lower taxes. It also did not have to employ or pay off unionised workers from the Buenos Aires port. The heated competition among the Buenos Aires concessionaires and the competition from Exolgan S.A. has provoked claims of unfairness and dispute resolution appeals to ICSID. Exolgan was instructed in Oct. 1998, following an agreement between the port authorities of the province and the city of Buenos Aires, to begin collecting terminal handling charges as part of a move to equalize the rate structure with terminals in the inner city Puerto Nuevo. Terminal handling charges are significant - $70 per import container and $50 per export container. http://www.miga.org/screens/projects/guarant/regions/lac/Hamburger.htm