Colombia roundup: Cargo movement, tertiary road investments

Colombian ports handled 90.5Mt of cargo in the first six months, a year-on-year increase of 4%.

According to the latest statistical bulletin from the transport regulator, 88.4% of the cargo went to or from the Caribbean region, 10% to or from the Pacific region and the rest to or from the Magdalena River region.

Of the total, 52.7% were exports and 20.3% imports, with transshipments and cabotage accounting for the rest. Coal was the main export product.

The port of Cartagena was the one that handled the most cargo with almost a third of the total.

Colombia has eight port areas on the Caribbean coast – La Guajira, Santa Marta, Ciénaga, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Gulf of Morrosquillo, Urabá and San Andrés plus two on the Pacific – Buenaventura and Tumaco – and two on the Magdalena River – Barrancabermeja and Río Magdalena.

The transport ministry, with the support of infrastructure agency ANI and Cormagdalena, the entity in charge of the comprehensive management of the Magdalena River, plans to design and implement an incentive scheme to guarantee private sector investments in port infrastructure, according to the council for economic and social policy (Conpes).

ROAD INVESTMENTS

Between January and September, Colombia’s roads authority Invías spent more than 533bn pesos (US$128mn) on tertiary or "regional" roads, 75% of the 711bn budget for the entire year.

Another 470bn pesos were allocated for this year for the improvement and maintenance of regional roads through the Community Roads for Total Peace program.

To date, 1,039 of the 1,100 planned agreements have been signed, the transport ministry said in a statement.