Contecar SA

Active

In 1994, Sociedad Terminal de Contenedores de Cartagena SA (CONTECAR) began operations of a new facility in the port of Cartagena. The company was formed in February 1993 by Gremio Cafetero de Colombia [67.1%] and TMM Group [Mexico, 32.9%]. In 2005, both partners sold their shares for approximately US $24 million to Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Cartagena SA who held a concession of the nearby Manga terminal in Cartagena. In 2007, Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Cartagena SA, who had originally sought to increase its capacity at Manga, chose to invest approximately US $350 million to greatly expand the Contecar facility. The pending expansion of the Panama Canal, along the increasing saturation of Jamaican ports, and the larger are of undeveloped land in Contecar were key drivers in the decision. The investment plan sought to increase the capacity of the Contecar facility from 120,000 TEU to 1.2 million TEU. Manga (project 1715) had a capacity of 900.000 TEU in 2007, but could not be greatly expanded due to its proximity to Cartagena’s city center.