In Chile, Puerto Panul, which holds a concession to handle dry bulk at the Port of San Antonio, reports record traffic of 3.451mt (million tonnes) at its facilities in 2025. This beats the previous annual high of 3.3mt, which was recorded in 2020, and also represents a 5% increase over 2024. Puerto Panul achieved this despite operating from just a single berth terminal at the Pacific port.
According to the company’s managing director, Cristian Valenzuela, the target in 2026 is to attract 3.5mt of traffic. Furthermore, in the remaining four years of its concession, the hope is to grow annual business to 4mt.
One of the keys to ensuring that Puerto Panul remains attractive to clients has been improved equipment maintenance. This has ensured that the terminal is now able to handle a continuous flow of imported corn, wheat, soybeans, and, to a lesser extent, malt.
Significantly, in 2025, the terminal resumed operations involving consignments of imported salt.
However, the future of the terminal remains uncertain. Its concession to undertake dry bulk operations at Berth 8 expires on 1 January 2030. That particular area of the port is earmarked for future tourism development. One solution could be to move the operator’s business to the proposed Outer Harbour development.