Katoen Natie will invest approximately 455 million USD in the expansion of the container terminal (TCP) in Montevideo.
INVESTMENT PROJECT
Last week, Katoen Natie and the Uruguayan Government reached an agreement for a new additional investment in the Port of Montevideo. This investment project represents the maximum expansion of the concession area, including the construction of a second container yard of approximately 22 hectares in addition to the existing area, and a second quay wall of 700 mts long, dredged to fourteen meters in depth. At the two quay walls, together 1,300 meters, the company will be able to handle four container ships simultaneously, with in time 12 to 15 ultramodern ship-to-shore gantry cranes and 50 straddle carriers (and / or rubber tyred gantry cranes). The new container terminal will have the capacity to load and unload more than 2.5 million TEU per year.
The execution of the project will begin immediately and will create many direct and indirect employment opportunities.
After the project is completed, the Port of Montevideo will have a ”state-of-the-art” Specialized Container Terminal, which will more than double its annual capacity and will allow TCP to operate the last generation of container vessels (400m).
This capacity increase and the concentration of container operations shall improve operational efficiency and reduce container costs, which will place Montevideo in a privileged position on the trade lanes of transit and transshipment containerized cargo.
This new agreement allows Katoen Natie to make – for the second time – the biggest investment in the history of the Port of Montevideo, and will be the driving force for Uruguay to strengthen the strategic position of its main regional port terminal as a supplier of efficient port services, making it a reference for the port system of the Southern Cone of South America.
“Terminal Cuenca del Plata is already the most efficient container terminal in South America, but with this new investment we are now positioning the terminal as an indispensable link in the list of the most important hub ports in the continent, and, at the same time, making the terminal more attractive for Uruguayan exporters”, explains Vincent Vandecauter, CEO of TCP.
“This enormous commitment confirms our trust in Uruguay as an investment country and one-of–the-places-to-be, and in the Port of Montevideo as an excellent logistics hub”, says Karl Huts, director of Katoen Natie Group.
KATOEN NATIE AND ORIENTAL REPUBLIC OF URUGUAY
Katoen Natie and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay met for the first time in the year 1996, when Katoen Natie first invested in Uruguay, purchasing part of the shares of Zonamerica. Since the very beginning, Katoen Natie was most confident in the success of offering logistics services through the Free Trade Zone system, and soon after decided to also invest in Costa Oriental. The following years confirmed to Katoen Natie that its trust in the potential and stability of Uruguay was well founded, and this was the basis for strategic decisions and more ambitious projects, which prompted Katoen Natie to make a strong commitment towards the country and its future.
In 2001 Katoen Natie participated in the auction of the shares of Terminal Cuenca del Plata S.A, to manage and operate the Specialized Container Terminal in the Port of Montevideo, and, having made the highest offer, it became owner of 80% of the company’s shares. This was the beginning of a very important partnership with the Uruguayan Government to transform the Port of Montevideo in the most important regional container hub for the port ecosystem of the Southern Cone.
During the first 20 years of the concession term, over USD 250 million was invested to make TCP the most modern terminal in the region. During this period, the extension of the main quay wall, the expansion of the container yard, the acquisition of 7 gantry cranes, 48 straddle carriers, and a strong investment in next generation technology, resulted in the offering of high-quality services to our customers, and in the best productivity in the region.
From 2012 onward, Katoen Natie also developed the Polo Oeste logistics park in collaboration with local partner Frigorífico Modelo SA, where together they have developed 10 hectares as warehouse space and the most advanced logistics hub for the region.
Katoen Natie would like to express its great satisfaction with this agreement, which will be the pillar and starting point to definitively put Terminal Cuenca del Plata on the map as the most modern container Terminal in the region.
Evaluatie
Oefening baart kunst. En dus zullen er ook uit deze oefening ongetwijfeld leerpunten volgen. Om die leerpunten te kennen en te delen, komen alle betrokken actoren binnenkort samen voor een grondige evaluatie van de noodplanoefening, zodat nadien bijgestuurd kan worden waar nodig. Want dat is net de essentie van deze oefeningen: lessen trekken, bijleren, elkaars kennis en inzichten delen. Zo kan men in geval van een echte crisissituatie sneller en efficiënter schakelen.
Katoen Natie and Intergamma are now utilizing AutoStore, the world's fastest and most reliable order processing system per square meter, for e-commerce order deliveries to Intergamma's customers.
This cube-shaped automated system, comprising approximately 900 m³ and equipped with 20 robots, has been in operation since the end of September 2023 at Katoen Natie's logistics platform in Kallo, which is the largest "multi-customer" logistics platform in Europe. The installation and implementation are part of a joint future project between Katoen Natie and Intergamma, following the recent extension of their successful 10-year partnership by an additional 5 years. For Intergamma, the Benelux leader in the DIY market and currently in a strong growth phase, this means that all its e-commerce products can reach private consumers even faster and more efficiently. "For Katoen Natie, the expertise built with AutoStore is an additional incentive to attract new customers to our logistics platforms with innovative solutions," says Fernand Huts, Chairman of Katoen Natie.
Katoen Natie is implementing this goods-to-man automated storage and picking system for the first time at its Kallo logistics platform. This implementation is part of the shared desire of Katoen Natie and Intergamma to ensure they can continue to work together in a future-proof manner. Katoen Natie Engineering Solutions, Katoen Natie's in-house research department, is closely monitoring the process and operations, and is also exploring the opportunity to invest in additional AutoStore installations on other logistics platforms.
Intergamma in a Growth Phase
In the Benelux, Intergamma is the market leader in the DIY industry with three brands: GAMMA Netherlands, GAMMA Belgium, and Karwei, which together operate 384 stores in Belgium and the Netherlands. "Ongoing developments in Intergamma's online channels have led to increased volumes," says Joost De Beijer, CEO of Intergamma. "The new investment in AutoStore in collaboration with Katoen Natie aligns perfectly with our strategy, in which e-commerce will continue to be crucial in the future while we simultaneously make our supply chain more sustainable. We aim to evolve into a 'one-stop shop,' where consumers can turn to GAMMA and Karwei to address their entire DIY project in one go and have their supplies delivered or picked up wherever they prefer." Intergamma expects that the investment will ultimately lead to increased capacity, flexibility, better reliability, and lower costs.
How Does AutoStore Work?
Bins with inventory are stacked 16 levels high next to and on top of each other within the grid. The grid is the customized aluminum rail system surrounding the bins and robots. Autonomous robots travel on top of the grid and continuously collaborate to retrieve stock for orders from the grid. They do this by lifting bins from the grid and rearranging them until they have the correct one. This bin is then presented at one of the 3 picking stations. The picker retrieves the goods from the bin and processes the order. The bin is returned to the grid. The algorithm ensures that stock for orders is always retrieved in the most efficient manner. This automation has no impact on existing jobs, as the pickers can now accomplish more with the same team. Additionally, it reduces picking errors, ensures continuous inventory management, optimal availability, and no single point of failure.
Round the clock robots
Customers can place orders online until 9:00 PM, and Katoen Natie hands over the packages to the carrier by 11:00 PM, ensuring that the packages are delivered to the customer's doorstep the next day. While Katoen Natie sleeps at night, the robots keep working. During the night, they ensure that the fast-moving products of Intergamma are always located in the top "drawers" of the grid and are thus picked up the fastest. All e-commerce orders for Intergamma are transmitted directly to AutoStore through the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) electronic data exchange system. AutoStore is also connected to Katoen Natie's existing packing automation. As a result, each box is automatically sealed after picking and is not touched until it is loaded.
Since September 25, a significant portion of Intergamma's products has been picked by AutoStore robots at Katoen Natie. However, starting from the end of October, the planned stock of Intergamma will also be stored in AutoStore. This will include more than 21,000 items distributed across 31,000 bins, with 6,528 of them subdivided into 4 compartments, bringing the total to 50,584 locations with stock.
Our Autostore in action on YouTube: