In Uruguay, Terminal de Graneles Montevideo (TGM) or Montevideo Dry Bulk Terminal posted record figures for traffic handled in 2025. In the first 51 weeks of the year, it reported accumulated traffic of 1,686,000 tonnes. The previous best — 1,297,000 tonnes — was recorded in 2024, for a terminal that first started operations in 2016.
Total traffic broke down as follows: soybeans, 1mt (million tonnes); rice, 320,000 tonnes; wheat, 100,000 tonnes; fertilizer, 100,000 tonnes; malt, 64,000 tonnes; and canola, 60,000 tonnes. In terms of customers, China was the main buyer of soybeans, Mexico of rice, Brazil of wheat and malt, and Europe of canola.
The new record was a reflection of Uruguay posting its best ever soybean harvest, which totalled 3.85mt tonnes. Significantly, Montevideo is also heavily used as a top-off port for vessels loading consignments at river ports on the Paraguay-Paraná waterway. This involves stops initially at the Navios and TGU terminals in Nueva Palmira, with cargo holds then completely filled at TGM, thanks to its 13-metre draught.
The excellent wheat and canola harvests are also expected to keep traffic buoyant well into 2026.