Historical Expansion and Sustainability in Chile’s Main Port
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Financial system & Commerce
The present port of San Antonio, on the central fly of Chile, on a day of chunky job with its cranes deployed and loading two container ships with products for export. Credit: Orlando Milesi / IPS
SAN ANTONIO, Chile, Sep 30 2025 (IPS) – The port of San Antonio, Chile’s foremost port, is selling a ancient and sustainable growth with its relish funding and that of international consortiums, aiming to enhance its present ninth design amongst the largest and busiest ports in Latin The United States.
The port, located in the Valparaíso remark, 110 kilometers north of Santiago and in the municipality of the equal name, San Antonio, is remark-owned and at this time operates with five concessions granted to deepest operators, receiving container ships carrying hundreds and hundreds of products.
In 2024, it handled 23 million a entire bunch import and export goods payment US$42.766 billion. It got 1,024 ships and 1.8 million TEUs, the unit of cargo in maritime transport equal to the capacity of an on a regular basis 20-foot container.
“The largest thing is for the undertaking to be inaugurated when inquire requires it. We belief that, in spite of the government that comes in from next March, this undertaking will practice the specified time desk. We’re working as instant as conceivable”–Juan Carlos Muñoz
For loads of years now, San Antonio’s cargo inch has tripled that of the ancient port of Valparaiso, located 100 kilometers to the north, and serves an space stretching from the regions of Coquimbo, north of Valparaiso, to Maule, south of the Santiago metropolitan remark.
That is a strip of land the place 63% of Chile’s 19.7 million of us are dwelling and the place 59% of the nasty domestic product (GDP) of this prolonged South American nation, which narrows between the Andes mountain differ and the Pacific Ocean, is produced.
Chile has free replace agreements with 34 countries or trading blocs, representing 88% of international GDP. In 2024, its exports reached a document US$100.163 billion, and imports amounted to US$84.155 billion.
The San Antonio Outer Port undertaking, which represents a well-known growth of the present port, is a must wish to strengthening international openness and solidifying connections with presumably the main routes to and from Asia, the Americas, and Europe.
Copper, fruits, wine, salmon, fruit pulp, and other products are shipped out by San Antonio, while grains, autos, machinery, technological instruments, and chemicals are brought in.
“If you undertaking Chile’s cargo inch, in particular in the central macro-zone, you retain in mind that by the years 2035-2036, the installed capacity in San Antonio and Valparaiso will likely be exceeded. Therefore, we must work on a port growth on myth of in every other case, we can bear well-known congestion of autos and ships,” explained the Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Juan Carlos Muñoz, to IPS.
Such congestion, he added, “is an inefficiency we cannot afford on myth of it will deal influence the nation’s competitiveness.”
The Outer Port is a strategic and emblematic undertaking for Chile’s fashion, according to Muñoz.
The fundamental growth comprises two new semi-automated terminals, 1,730 meters prolonged and 450 meters broad, with eight berthing fronts.
By 2036, when the growth is fully operational, eight remark-of-the-artwork 400-meter-prolonged container ships will have the capacity to dock simultaneously, and circulation six million containers yearly. This capacity will double the present one.
San Antonio became once chosen as presumably the most correct design for this unparalleled port growth.
For the time being, the undertaking is progressing by environmental approval and a bidding job for the breakwater, along with updates to the infrastructure for safeguarding its docks from winds and waves—a normal ingredient for the set up of concessionaires for the following 30 years.
Referring to the functionality influence of the November presidential elections, Muñoz reminded IPS that “in this undertaking, we are taking the baton from of us who came forward of. And we notion to hand it over improved and evolved to of us who reach next, in spite of political coloration.”
“The largest thing is for the undertaking to be inaugurated when inquire requires it. We belief that, in spite of the government that comes, this undertaking will practice the specified time desk. We’re working as instant as conceivable,” he explained.
Design exhibiting the projected design of the Outer Port of the port of San Antonio, presumably the main port in Chile, on the central fly of the Pacific Ocean. The growth will virtually triple its present capacity and may perchance perchance be fully operational in 2036. Credit: Courtesy of the San Antonio port
Key Definitions
The Exterior Port comprises the building of an L-fashioned breakwater virtually four kilometers prolonged. Two kilometers will prolong out to sea, and the opposite two will practice the coastline.
The total funding will likely be US$4.forty five billion, of which $1.95 billion will likely be contributed by the remark-owned San Antonio Port Company and US$2.5 billion by the deepest sector.
The switch capacity will likely be expanded to six million TEUs per year.
In March, the undertaking got a US$150 million credit score from the Development Bank of Latin The United States and the Caribbean, CAF, to finance enabling works much just like the building of the breakwater and to implement environmental compensation measures.
On Wednesday, September 24, Eduardo Abedrapo, president of the San Antonio port, confirmed accurate by a proceed to to the port facilities by international journalists, along with IPS, that two other consortia were prequalified, raising the preference of bids for the initial works to five.
The subtle job will conclude the receipt of bids in January 2026 and may perchance perchance award the contracts two months later.
The foremost contracts are for building the breakwater, undertaking the dredging, and associated works.
The preliminary works are new access roads and a railway home to circulation undertaking building self-discipline topic. Next comes the building of the breakwater and the deep dredging (18.5 meters) of the harbor basin.
The breakwater will likely be 1,230 meters facing the ocean and 2,700 meters extending inland and requires 16 million cubic meters of rock.
The corporations prequalified up to now are Van Oord (Netherlands), Jan de Nul (Belgium), China Harbour Engineering Company CHEC (China), Acciona-Deme (Spain-Belgium), and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. (South Korea).
The container ship Valentina, 366 meters prolonged, docked at pier 1 of the Chilean port of San Antonio in the course of loading operations. Less than 10 minutes cross from when the truck arrives alongside the ship until it leaves the port having delivered the container. Credit: Orlando Milesi / IPS
Environmental Sustainability
The undertaking goals to be sure port operational quality by execution that’s sustainable with the social and environmental surroundings.
“Chile has a truly sophisticated and intricate environmental review design. Obviously, these works bear a bother of impacts of their building and operation phases,” Abedrapo told IPS.
He emphasised that “the port will likely be 100% electric. From the purpose of glimpse of particulate topic air pollution, this frequently is the opposite, as this can strongly contribute to decarbonization.”
Nonetheless, he admitted that a port emits noise and has other impacts on the marine ecosystem or existence in the surrounding areas.
He explained that on myth of conferences with the San Antonio municipality and social and environmental organizations, it became once made up our minds to present protection to two water our bodies located in the new port facility by declaring them urban wetlands. They had emerged naturally 50 years after the distinctive port became once established in 1912.
“That is an illustration of the company’s commitment to safeguarding biodiversity in the space and coastal land. It ability that foremost infrastructure inclinations can even be perfectly compatible and harmonized with the safeguarding and increase of environmental prerequisites,” he asserted.
The elimination of 16 million rocks to invent the breakwater, shall we embrace, comprises their reuse. Fragment of the environmental efficiency entails utilizing the eliminated self-discipline topic to occupy in other platforms.
Trucks circulation amongst dozens of already unloaded containers which shall be waiting for customs procedures forward of being sent to their destination. In 2024, 23 million a entire bunch products handed by the Chilean port of San Antonio. Credit: Orlando Milesi / IPS
Growth of the Main Expansion
The environmental qualification resolution for the Outer Port is soundless being processed, looking forward to technical experiences from the enthusiastic public services and the conclusion of a citizen consultation.
Abedrapo believes that in October 2025 the environmental review carrier will self-discipline a document that must be spoke back to by these guilty for the San Antonio port.
“The environmental review carrier may perchance perchance, in opposition to the first half of next year, build a resolution referring to the environmental qualification resolution for the undertaking,” he estimated.
Abedrapo maintains that the Outer Port will guarantee the sustainability and modernization of Chile’s public port infrastructure with high levels of efficiency and contemporary instruments.
He highlights disclose advantages for Chilean out of the country replace, lower-model imported goods, and a aggressive logistics chain.
Meanwhile, in the operation of the present port, the reach of the breakwater, constructed last century, has been completed with the placement of 5,100 cubic meters of concrete and 3,400 cubic meters of prefabricated blocks. The parapet wall became once raised from 10.6 to 11 meters.
Ten million bucks were invested to expand the protection of port operations referring to the results of native weather swap.
The work, which began last Can also unbiased, additionally integrated the set up of two,300 cubic meters of broad-tonnage rockfill.
The Chancay Port in Peru
Minister Muñoz pushed aside any concerns about attainable competitors with the port of Chancay in Peru, funded by China in Chile’s northern neighbor and located conclude to Lima.
“In wish to producing competitors between various ports and countries, there is instead complementarity. It is accurate for us that Peru has ports of this stage on myth of there are ships that proceed to loads of ports to construct a route along a sure coastline ravishing,” he claimed.
He insisted that the inquire projections in Chile require investing in a big-scale port that anticipates them.
He added that Chile can additionally entice cargo from other South American countries by the proposed bioceanic corridors.
“The existence of other ports of equal scale in other countries on the Pacific fly ability that transport lines visiting this half of the arena can bear larger than one port of call. Ports bask in these being developed by our brother nation Peru are an ravishing complement to the undertaking we are undertaking right here, in San Antonio,” he concluded.
