12 May Interview with Carla Monrabal, President of the Dock Sud Port Management Consortium, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dock Sud Port: The Key Logistics Hub of the Southern Cone Driving Sustainable Development and Investment
Strategically located in the heart of Argentina’s most important industrial belt and just a few kilometers from downtown Buenos Aires, Dock Sud Port positions itself as one of the country’s main logistical and productive engines. Its proximity to major consumer centers, connection to national highways, and access to an extensive rail and river network make it a key hub for foreign trade.
With a vision focused on efficiency, sustainability, and attracting investment, the port has launched an ambitious infrastructure modernization plan, incorporating cutting-edge technology and international best practices in port management. This includes the expansion of docks, improvements in dredging, digitization of processes, and strengthening of energy and connectivity infrastructure.
Dock Sud Port also stands out for its strong commitment to sustainable development. Through active environmental policies, investments in clean energy, and professional training programs, the port aims to balance economic growth with social and ecological responsibility.
A Bet on Investment and International Integration
In a regional context of growing logistical and digital demand, Dock Sud Port presents itself as an ideal strategic partner for companies seeking efficiency, regional outreach, and institutional backing. The presence of international operators, a favorable regulatory environment, and a proactive approach to public-private partnerships enhance its appeal as a future port hub.
What have been the main milestones in Dock Sud Port’s evolution over the past decades and how have they influenced its current development?
About six years ago, Dock Sud Port underwent a major transformation due to a change in its management regulations. Previously, Dock Sud was administered solely by the Secretariat of Production, under a public administration model. This meant slower, more bureaucratic processes and the workforce was not always as well-trained as needed, a pattern seen not just at Dock Sud, but across many Argentine ports.
Six years ago, however, a paradigm shift took place and the port transitioned to a consortium management model. This change meant that, from a technical and operational standpoint, the port began to function more like a company, with a board of directors and a president, a role I have held for five of those six years. Notably, I became the first woman at the national level to lead in what has traditionally been a male-dominated sector.
With a background in ports, international trade and logistics, I brought a strong focus on modernizing operations. We began by transforming the organization from the inside out: training and reorganizing staff so they could feel part of a process that involved clear techniques, methods and a direct connection with users and clients. As administrators of significant port infrastructure, we issue permits and international concessions, all of which demand efficient, reliable management.
We implemented many rapid but secure processes, even though five years is a short time in terms of port potential and long-term projection. We also created new departments, like the environmental area, which surprisingly did not exist before, even as recently as 2020, when I took office in the middle of a global pandemic. The pandemic, despite its many challenges, actually gave us something positive: it accelerated our digital transformation and forced us to rethink how we work physically and manage operations, pushing us to update rapidly. We also introduced specialized capital and expertise across various areas of the port. We conducted a deep diagnosis of our weaknesses and projected where we wanted to take the port in the future. That became the foundation of our team’s management approach.
Perhaps most significantly, we made the strategic decision — supported by myself and the entire board — to align with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. We became the first port in Argentina to certify compliance with the SDGs and beyond achieving certification, we take pride in renewing it each year. This commitment has provided us with a clear set of short and medium-term objectives, helping align the entire team with the overarching goals of our port authority and shaping the direction we want to move toward.
It’s an ongoing journey. We are constantly reinventing, readjusting and reassessing where we need to focus, depending on the evolving context. But most importantly, we now have a clear horizon, something that, as port policy, was not previously embedded in the organization.
What have been the main achievements in terms of operational efficiency and economic results in recent years? How has the port positioned itself compared to other ports in the region?
We, as the port authority, provide support in management to our users and permit holders, offering an extended management approach. We have a strategic location, positioned right at the gateway to one of the largest main navigation routes in the world, the VNT (Main Navigation Channel) of Argentina. This makes us a hub port for national logistics and through this we hold one of the most important concessions of globally significant economic groups, namely PCA and the Singapore terminal group. Also, within this partnership, with shipping companies like MSC and ONE, we help support their development and growth.
We have unified and optimized, for example, our dredging operations. We have a port that, unfortunately, requires constant dredging and maintenance because we are at a major sediment outflow area and this forces us to provide users with predictability and safety in navigation. Previously, there were short, small-scale dredging operations by area, but we achieved the first comprehensive dredging campaign for the port, which resulted in significant savings in equipment amortization and mobilization costs.
A key change we made to optimize resources was to shift the paradigm regarding legal security for investors. We made a regulatory change. Sometimes people say you only need to invest or carry out construction work, but to attract an investor or make them say, “I’m going to invest here and develop a 30-year project in a port industry,” you need to provide legal security. So, we provided a new regulatory framework after over a year of work, where we found adaptability to the regimes and alternatives for those investors who want to invest for 30 years, or 10 years, or who need a spot project for a specific operation — maybe an offshore process — and then withdraw. That flexibility and dynamic approach attracted many more investment processes and for the port, the more investors, the more navigability, the more ships, and the more revenue.
What investments and modernization projects have recently been undertaken at the port and what impact have they had on its competitiveness and logistical capacity?
Currently, the largest investment process — which is the pride of several years of work — has been made possible by providing a complete legal framework to the container terminal we have at our port, Exolgan. This allows us to modify all the infrastructure of our docks to adapt to the global standard: ships of 365 meters in length.
In reality, our port had become outdated in terms of the navigability requirements of some vessels today and, as with anything, if we don’t modernize, we could have run the great risk of being relegated to inland or feeder ports, where connectivity takes longer and ultimately becomes more costly. Efficiency is not just about revenue collection, it’s about ensuring that small producers who want to export, or those who need imported supplies, can receive them as efficiently as possible to maintain efficiency across the production chain. We are a link in that chain and we need to be conscious of our role within it. Therefore, promoting investments so that international holdings, like our container terminal’s economic group, can adapt the docks to accommodate the arrival of large oceangoing vessels with new dimensions increases efficiency by reducing transit times and minimizing container blockages. That has been one of the great challenges we’ve faced from the start of our management until now.
We also have a refinery within our port and we work to support it in all aspects related to access, dredging and ensuring that ships can arrive with greater cargo capacity, thereby improving efficiency in the energy value chain, which is so crucial for any country.
We’re working on a new signaling system and developing a monitoring system that will automatically track dredging services for all river pilots. Ultimately, the goal is to provide all users with greater added value so that, in the end, efficiency becomes the final result of this entire value chain.
Given the current context of changes in the country’s economic policy, what challenges and opportunities does Dock Sud Port face in terms of trade, investments and regulations?
As a port, we handle approximately 85% of the container cargo in the province and hold a 32–36% share at the national level in terms of container operations. In 2024 we moved over 10 million tons of bulk cargo, both liquid and dry.
Any changes in exogenous economic factors will affect the economy and cargo movement. This happens to any port in the world — we experience the impacts before they reach the microeconomy because our projections come earlier.
Right now, we are at minimum levels, unfortunately, due to the economic context we’ve been experiencing, though work is being done and now we are starting to see signs of growth trends, both in imports and in competitiveness for exports.
Less than ten days ago, there were already changes in the country’s monetary policy related to exports and imports, particularly with the exchange rate, which we believe will present new opportunities for some sectors to increase exports.
At the same time, we are a hub port, where we aim to maximize the efficiency of our strategic logistical position to add value to other economic sectors in Argentina that are becoming increasingly dynamic, such as mining in the north or the southern part of the province linked to fuel. We also face a major challenge within our broader global context: the upcoming tender for the main navigation channel (VNT). This will be a milestone for costs, tariffs and opportunities, enabling us to capture the spillover economy of the VNT. We are logistically well-positioned to attract new investments.
We believe these will be years of significant work, but we need to provide the right context to producers and investors to support them in new projects and developments because when they grow as private actors, we grow as a port.
What recent initiatives or agreements has the port established with other ports in Argentina, the region, or globally to strengthen its connectivity and relevance in global trade?
We have a working methodology. As the port’s president, I first belong to the community of Avellaneda, the city-port community, where we are working very hard alongside our regional representatives on all matters related to the port community. I’m also part of the organizational framework under the Secretariat of Production within our governor Axel Kicillof’s administration. Within this framework, we engage in continuous collaboration with other ports within the same organizational structure. There, we create synergies by sharing goals and achievements from one port with another, sharing experiences on topics like gender issues, sustainability and economic complementarity. The idea is to complement each other and not necessarily compete over cargo. With some ports, we have stronger ties than with others, simply because of the nature of our work or the different port economic profiles, as they belong to different regions and thus have different economic focuses.
We’re also working quite a lot with Mercosur ports, especially with Paraguay. We aim to become the main option along the VNT for neighboring countries’ access to the sea. We are also working on restructuring customs regulations and policies alongside shipowners to make the transshipment terminal more efficient and to enable better outbound connections abroad. Additionally, we’re collaborating with logistical operators and inland ports along the VNT, working with provinces inside the country to improve the efficiency of ship and barge connections along the navigation channel, to ensure smooth transshipment and serve as the exit port. As a hub port, it is our responsibility to continuously establish these kinds of agreements.
With the IAPH World Ports Conference 2025 on the horizon, how does Dock Sud Port plan to participate and what opportunities does it see to strengthen its presence on the global port stage?
Our goal at these conferences is to go out and show that we are here, that we exist. The reality is that Argentina is sometimes located quite far from the major international transit hubs or centers, so we need our port to be showcased — to go out, be seen, be visible, to have an active presence on the agenda and to work proactively as a port authority.
We cannot just wait for some investor to notice us on the map or come looking for a project. Argentina is a land full of important opportunities, with many economic sectors — not only bulk cargo but also mining, renewable energy, solar and everything related to the oil industry. We believe that by actively going out, showing ourselves and being present on that global map, we gain the proactive positioning we need to keep promoting our port worldwide.
We consider Dock Sud Port to be the gateway to an important logistics sector in South America, for our main navigation route where not only Argentine cargo moves, but also Brazilian, Uruguayan, Paraguayan and Bolivian cargo from the region. We are available not only to complement each other but also to learn from other international experiences that will surely help us continue improving. Therefore, we will leave contact information because we are not only interested in showcasing our port but also in learning from international experiences that can enrich our learning curve.