SINKING SANTOS.New competition squeezes Latin America's former top port FOR DECADES, THE BRAZILIAN PORT OF SANTOS Santos (sän`t  s), city (1996 pop. 412,288), São Paulo state, SE Brazil, on the island of São Vicente in the Atlantic just off the mainland. It is 40 mi (64 km) SE of the city of São Paulo, with which it is linked by rail and by the Via Anchieta highway. REIGNED OVER LATIN AMERICA'S shipping kingdom. The phrase "Latin America's busiest port" had become more than synonymous with Santos. In fact, it bordered on redundant. Now it has become passe. Buenos Aires has taken over as ruler for general boxed cargo. The Argentine port finished first in the recently released 1999 Latin American rankings, published in the Seaport of the Americas report from the American Association of Port Authorities. New Asian shipping trends are cited as the reason. The Asian route changes have spawned another shift in the rankings: the region's No.2 spot now belongs to the Colon terminal for the Panama Canal. Santos is now No.3. Indeed, shipping routes are being redrawn throughout the region, thanks to new trade trends, natural disasters--such as the floods in Venezuela-and shipping line consolidations. Kingston, Jamaica, made it to the fourth spot, while Puerto Cabello Puerto Cabello (pwār`tō käbā`yō), city (1990 pop. 128,825), N Venezuela, a port on the Caribbean Sea. An important Venezuelan port, it ships meat, coffee, cacao, dyewoods, and copper ores. Near the city is one of Venezuela's most modern oil and chemical plants., the leading Venezuelan port, ranks among the top five--followed closely by the Bahamas' Freeport and Costa Rica's Puerto Limon. More choices mean shippers are starting to determine the port calls, not the ports themselves. As a result, the next crop of leaders could include such port powerhouses as Honduras' Puerto Cortes or Guatemala's Puerto Barrios Puerto Barrios (pwār`tō bär`yōs), city (1994 est. pop. 29,095) and port, E Guatemala, capital of Izabal dept., on the Bay of Amatique, an arm of the Caribbean Sea. It was named after the Guatemalan politician Justo Rufino Barrios.--as a result of the clothing trade--or Uruguay's Montevideo Montevideo (mŏntāvēthā`ō), city (1996 pop. 1,330,405), S Uruguay, capital and largest city of Uruguay, on the Río de La Plata. It is one of the major ports of South America and the governmental, financial, and commercial center of Uruguay., which offers a cheaper alternative as a result of its free trade zone and improved intermodal connections to Brazil, Argentina and the rest of the Southern cone. The real winners, though, are the shippers. For the first time in years, they'll be able to look for the better gateway for their goods. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion