Manta close to issuing tender

“The bid specifications are 95% ready. The Committee will bring these before Manta Port Authority (APM) to get them finally agreed. We estimate that the eventual tender will be issued sometime between March 15 and March 23,” confirmed APM general manager Guillermo Morán Velásquez, in a recent interview given to the national news agency ANDES.

Several international operators have already submitted expressions of interest. Those in the public domain are three Chilean companies: Ultramar, SAAM and Empresas Navieras; DP World; Ports America; and China Merchants.

In addition, a bid is expected from a consortium put together by operators in both Argentina and Peru, while Grup TCB, which operates Barcelona Container Terminal and TCBuen, in the Colombian port of Buenaventura, has stated publicly its interest in the project.