Privatisation success story

Peru’s only privatised port, at Matarani in the south, stands as a lone example of not only what can be achieved with new capital and private management, but also of the local polemics behind port concessions. Leased for 30 years in 1999 to Terminal Internacional del Sur (TISUR) to serve the city of Arequipa and surrounding areas, principals say the concession has proved a huge success. Mario Hart Potestá, an executive with parent company Tramarsa, says studies show Matarani is now operated as the second most efficient port in South America. He cites studies by Corporación Andina de Fomento and the Comisión Económica para America Latina y El Caribe.

“Today TISUR has not only complied with its obligatory investments but it has also made further investments voluntarily,” he said. “Cargo throughput has practically doubled.” After TISUR began in August 1999, throughput increased from 1.05M tonnes to 1.35M tonnes in 2000, mostly grain and other bulk trades, with a quarter accountable to landlocked Bolivia.

However TISUR, a subsidiary of Chile’s Grupo Romero maritime group, owned by Ricardo Claro, has faced strong hostility. Grupo Romero has interests in related agency, stevedoring and shipowning and operating companies in Peru. Competitors charged in 2000 that port operations favoured Grupo Romero companies. Combined with a groundswell of union opposition, this was enough to trigger a government suspension and then review of the port privatisation process before bids for the remaining five ports, including Callao, could be assessed and concessions granted. Four years later, opposition is more subdued and critics have realised the process was successful, says Hart Potestá

Fairplay