Chile and Argentina are working on a project right in the middle of the Andes mountain range, at 4,700 meters above sea level, in the San Francisco International Pass, which would unite the Atlantic with the Pacific and that would allow exporting products from the north of Argentina, the south of Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay, through the Atacama coast directly to China.
In 2022, this plan could begin to materialize in the hands of Max Wu, a Chinese investor named Max Wu that has the support of a Chinese state company. His plan includes a railway line in the middle of the desert and expanding the port of Chañarcillo.
According to a presentation of the project's joint committee, which is made up by public and private entities from Chile and Argentina and that was called Atacalar, the project will allow the regions of La Rioja, Catamarca, Tucuman, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, Entre Rios, and Santa Fe, which account for 26% of the Argentine territory, have 12.5 million cultivable hectares, and an exportable supply worth 31.465 billion dollars, to export their products through Atacama.
This would benefit them greatly. According to estimates, they would have nearly 30% savings on freight costs. Their options nowadays are to take a very long detour through Panama or to send their products through the central zone of Chile, through the Los Libertadores pass, but this increases costs. In addition, the passage is not enabled all year, which delayed the shipping time to Asia.
According to a preliminary study, building the mega port and the international train that would link the sector from the Chañaral port to Recreo in Catamarca would require an investment estimated at 20 billion dollars, stated Roberto Masso, the person that the private sector put in charge of the Bioceanic Corridor.
Source: simfruit.cl / dfmas.df.cl