LIMA, PE.- Port renewal is approaching in Latin America. The expiration of concessions that were triggered at the end of the last century opens up opportunities for contract review and improvement.
In the region, 19.1% of these contracts will expire between 2025 and 2030, with Colombia accounting for the shortest periods; while 24.5% will expire between 2030 and 2035, in the case of Mexico and Peru ; 11.7% between 2035 and 2040, 30.9% between 2040 and 2050, and 13.8% after 2050, where countries like Brazil and Chile are included, with a more staggered distribution, according to data shared by Juan Duarte, executive president of AAPA LATAM .
“We are seeing the need for new regulations, new policies, and how we are going to plan for the next 50 years of the port industry in our region,” Duarte said during the panel entitled “Global Economic Outlook and Its Impact on Demand for the Maritime-Port Industry ” at the AAPA LATAM 2025 Congress .
This outlook for port concession expirations also includes the new projects being launched in Latin American countries , a trend aligned with the demand for infrastructure to serve global trade.
“The next generation of investments, of concessions that will be presented, should have a very different set of requirements,” said Dinesh Sharma, managing director of Drewry Maritime Research .
In addition, in this context, there is a growing trend among shipping lines to add even larger vessels to their services and routes , seeking to take advantage of economies of scale.
“We need to think about efficiency, we need to think about productivity ,” Sharma said.
In this quest to incorporate improvements into upcoming port contracts in Latin America, we must not forget the new requirements demanded by climate change , namely, sustainability in terminal operations and the entire business ecosystem surrounding them.
“The requirements for port concessions in the next generation will be very different. I think governments, port authorities, and also terminal operators need to think about how they would participate in this particular concession renewal process,” said Dinesh Sharma.
The renewal of port concessions occurs in a context in which “advanced economies are not playing or are not the main players; emerging developing economies are , and regions like ours have the potential to increasingly influence the value chain,” according to Juan Duarte.
“We have a thriving region, efficient ports committed to investment, and a manufacturing and growth capacity that the world needs. So, while we are seeing port expirations, we have opportunities to start thinking now about the next policy, the next regulatory framework, to ensure the competitiveness and continuity of those concessions that are performing extremely well. Within Latin America, we have the most efficient ports in the world, such as Cartagena. The third most efficient port in the world is a Latin American port (…) it is essential to have ports that are prepared, flexible, and strategically resilient ,” he stated.
Comment and follow us on X: @EnriqueDuRio / Sent / @GrupoT21
