For over a decade Latin American markets have undergone many reforms in their free trade agreements with other regions such as Europe, Asia and North America, resulting in economic growth that has affected the way each country manages its ports and highlighted the importance of their ports in the development of their economy. Efficient ports mean rapid transit of the merchandise from the port to the merchant, resulting in low cost of storage and consequently a cheaper price of the product to the end customer.

RTG crane in Brazilian port
RTG crane in Brazilian port
Since the early 1990s, ports in Latin America have undergone changes in port governance and operations but the real catalyst for major change was the 2006 with the approval of the Panama Canal expansion when the major port changes started in Latin America. Challenges to further development include funding and improvements in infrastructure.

Find the right port solution which drives greater efficiencies through process and equipment automation is vital to achieve lower overall operational costs, improved safety and better equipment availability.

This is something that leading firms such as Kalmar, Terex and Konecranes know well as they continue to offer hoists and cranes to ports throughout the region. Kalmar, part of Finland's Cargotec, says that the company's biggest markets in the region are Venezuela and Colombia (see Q&A) along with Brazil, Peru, Chile and Argentina. Regional sales manager Emilio Martinez says that the most popular products are the reach stackers for which the company claims to be regional leader.

Its RTG cranes are also very popular and this month (June) the firm is set to supply a further 15 of its Kalmar E-One² rubbertyred gantry (RTG) cranes to Bolivariana de Puertos (Bolipuertos), Venezuela in a deal worth Euro 20 million. The deal follows an earlier order from the same customer for Kalmar port equipment received in March. "This is another important order for Kalmar in Venezuela within a short period of time," says Ingo Erhardt, Vice President and Head of South America at Kalmar. "I am very proud of the trusted relationship we have built with our customers and the continued success we have delivered in the market throughout the years."

Erhardt says that the orders were placed after key Bolipuertos people visited a number of Kalmar's terminals in Brazil to see the equipment in operation. "Our customer had the opportunity to conduct a thorough comparison and concluded that Kalmar RTGs provided the best solution to meet their operational needs." The 15 cranes, each of which has a 41t capacity, are destined to be delivered to Bolipuerto's La Guaira location in Venezuela during the first half of 2014. Bolipuertos ordered the cranes through construction contractor Teixeira Duarte, part of the consortium Consorcio TD-Mota- Proyecto Puerto de la Guaira, in Venezuela.

Purchased along with an extensive stock of spare parts, the RTGs have a lift height of 1 over 5 containers high and a span of 6 + 1 for excellent productivity.

The order includes also Kalmar SmartPort process automation solution SmartRail providing automated gantry steering for rubber tyred gantry cranes, and SmartFleet, which helps maintenance operations to more effectively support terminal equipment. Kalmar will also be conducting specialist training for the customer's operators and maintenance personnel.

Kalmar's E-One² has a variable speed generator that enables higher fuel efficiency than standard RTGs. It is an all electric concept without hydraulic components minimising maintenance requirements for which the maintenance interval for both crane and optionally for the engine is 1,000 hours.

Growth in South America’s port industry creates more opportunities for crane manufacturers