Honduras: major port expansion

Construction firms, equipment suppliers and service companies of various kinds, will be able to participate in a major project, to expand the facilities at Puerto Cortés, on Honduras’ Caribbean coast.

The expanded port should also stimulate more activities by free-zone companies.

The government next February will choose the lead developer of the new facilities, from among bidders, which include Barcelona’s TBC, Dubai Ports World, Denmark-based AP Moller-Maersk, Grupo Bolloré of France, and Hutchison Port Holdings, a subsidiary of Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa.

The expansion project, expected to start in 2014, will cost around $500 million, including a deeper channel, which will allow access for bigger ships.

Puerto Cortes currently ranks 36th in the world, in terms of container traffic with the United States.