After the calculations of additional costs that some actors in the export sector established as possible impacts due to the change in business announced by the shipping company Maersk, from January 2024 the other side of foreign trade enters the discussion: imports, and they too would be affected by this Danish decision company to move its ships from the sea port of Guayaquil to Posorje.

The executive director of the Ecuadorian Business Committee (CEE), Gabriela Uquillas, analyzes that the impact for the importer will be the additional cost of transportation and time. “I think the impact for an importer based in Guayaquil will be the cost of transportation and time, which will certainly be its biggest impact, and on the other hand, for importers from the rest of the country, the problem will depend on the road connection,” it states without specifying additional cost figures.

Another 90 kilometers of travel to the port of Posor will cost the shrimp an additional 400 dollars per container, according to the calculation of this sector, because an escort is needed along with the vehicle, the cost of the transport itself, an aggregate to connect to the unit, among others. While the Association for the Marketing and Export of Bananas of Ecuador (Acorbanec) estimates that for them additional cost will be 130 USD per container, which in turn means an additional $0.12 per case exported.

Change in Maersk’s business includes ‘strengthening security standards in ports’

As for the traffic this change could create on Guayaquil’s access roads, Uquillas – who is also a customs expert – says there will be no impact. “Although it is true that traffic could be complicated in a certain part of Guayaquil, it is also true that it should be eased in another part of the city, so we do not believe that there will be a special impact on the city of Guayaquil, but it is also necessary to emphasize that the development of the port and port infrastructure very important to take place hand in hand with the national government,” insists the executive director of HGK.

In this sense, Uquillas emphasizes that when the state grants a concession for the construction of a port, it should not forget all the related jobs that are necessary and which, according to the spokesperson of the Business Committee, cannot depend on the private sector.

Maersk would request the arrival of larger ships

As for the decision that caused the shipper to change port operations, the expert is convinced that it is solely a matter of Maersk’s commercial decision.

“The shipper will always decide which port to arrive at due to problems with logistics and connectivity…we are sure that this is a decision thought out with great caution and derived from the advantages that arriving in Posorje can provide in one way or another,” says Uquillas.

One of these advantages and the main one, analyzed by the director of HGK, is the draft depth of the port of Posorje, which is 16.5 meters deeper than that of the port of Guayaquil, which is 12.5 meters. “We have to take into account that Posorje is a port with a deep draft, which may mean that the shipowner is interested in having ships come to Ecuador looking for a larger draft and therefore see Posorje as an option.”

The first Maersk ship has already arrived at the port of Posor and is accelerating the start of the shipping company’s business at that terminal

For Albert Acosta Burne, Editor weekly analysis, What is happening with Maersk and its change from Contecon, which manages the sea port of Guayaquil, to DP World Posorja, which manages the deep water port, is a movement of two forces, as commented on its X account (formerly Twitter).

This indicates that on the one hand it makes land transport more expensive because cargo from the south has to travel an additional distance to Posorje, but on the other hand it makes maritime transport cheaper because the port of Posorja enables economies of scale due to its ability to receive larger vessels.