Port of Montevideo Opens Former Railway Yard as Vehicle Backlog Mounts
Cubierto por 3 fuentesPublicado
- global ports«Tenemos autos hasta en los techos»: Gandini sobre el puerto de Montevideo
- Argen PortsEl puerto de Montevideo se queda sin espacio para más autos y recurre a un predio ferroviario
- Portal PortuarioUruguay: Saturación de vehículos descargados en Puerto de Montevideo obliga a ocupar antiguo recinto ferroviario
The Port of Montevideo ran out of space to keep receiving new vehicles, and the National Ports Administration (ANP) arranged with the Customs Directorate to authorize the use of a former AFE shunting yard as a temporary storage area. The move comes in response to the expected arrival of approximately 14,000 vehicles between October and November, a volume that worsened congestion in the yards designated for cars.
ANP director Jorge Gandini acknowledged during a maritime law conference at the Palacio Legislativo that the organization no longer knows where to place additional units and that several vessels are waiting outside the port because there is no berth or free space to unload them. According to Argen Ports, Customs authorized the use of the railway site on an exceptional and temporary basis through December 31, 2026.
Portal Portuario reported that the 14,000 vehicles would arrive from China and Europe between Monday, October 5 and Thursday, November 5, and identified among the vessels driving the recent flow the Heroic Ace, carrying 2,231 units, the Grande Melbourne, with approximately 1,800, and the upcoming arrival of the Grande Oriente, with 3,231 vehicles. The same outlet noted that the ANP asked Customs to authorize use of the former AFE railway yard after finding that the surge in arrivals during the first half of 2026 had strained its capacity to meet demand.
Both the ANP and Argen Ports agreed that the shortage of car-carrier trucks is hampering the removal of units to off-site storage facilities, which in turn is blocking the release of space within the port grounds. Argen Ports also recalled that in July the Centro de Navegación had already warned about the saturation of the yards and that, according to Subrayado, the lack of space had even led to vehicles being parked under the viaduct.
Market Pressure and Background
Global Ports linked part of the pressure to the Uruguayan market: between January and September 2026, 58,082 brand-new vehicles were sold, 14% more than in the same period the previous year according to ACAU, of which 21,821 were electric, a 127% year-on-year jump. The outlet also noted that a significant share of the cargo arrives in transit to Paraguay, whose imports of hybrid, electric, and plug-in vehicles grew 65.7% in 2025 according to CADAM, and that as far back as 2014 ACAU had already warned of a similar reduction in space for unloading new cars.
