Sacyr and ACS join forces to compete against Acciona for works worth 3.8 billion in Chile’s largest port

Competition to expand the Port of San Antonio, Chile’s main maritime terminal, intensifies. If two weeks ago it was the Spanish infrastructure group Acciona that signed up for the bid with the help of the Belgian contractor Deme, now it is Sacyr and ACS (through Dragados) that are joining in a consortium to compete for one of the large projects underway in the Andean country. According to the specifications, its development contemplates a public-private investment plan (PPP) of 4,450 million dollars (just under 3.8 billion euros at the current exchange rate).

The truth is that the magnitude of the works has extended the interest of the sector beyond the Chilean borders, giving way to an international tender to which, ultimately, the Asian giant has also joined. China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) Group. At the beginning of September, the fight was reduced to three companies: the Dutch Van Oordthe Belgian Jan de Nul and the china CHEC. However, the authority orchestrating the project, the San Antonio Port Company, has increased the number of prequalified actors to seven.

The tender provides for the award of a contract intended to execute the works on the new shelter millwith an approximate extension of four kilometers, in addition to the necessary dredging to form the dock, the development of support areas and road accesses, and the application of environmental mitigation and compensation measures. With this expansion, the port – located on the central coast of Chile, about 100 kilometers from Santiago – seeks to increase its operational capacity from 23.4 million tons mobilized in 2024 to nearly 60 million in 2050which will mean practically tripling its current volume.

The expansion plan is structured in two stages. The first, valued at 1.5 billion dollars (about 1.27 billion euros), includes the construction of the breakwater, the dredging of the dock and the enabling of the road and railway network. The contract award is expected to be finalized during the first quarter of 2026, with an estimated execution of ten years. The second phase will concentrate the rest of the investment and considers the enabling of two docking fronts of 1,730 meters each, capable of receiving state-of-the-art container ships of up to 400 meters in length.

The financing scheme will be developed under a PPP model, according to which the San Antonio Port Company will contribute nearly 1,950 million dollars (1,660 million euros), while the remaining 2,500 million (2,130 million euros) will come from private investors through port concessions that cover the construction, qualification and subsequent operation of the sites.

Although it is a strategic work for Chilean foreign trade, its processing has faced a strong opposition from local communities and technical observations, focused mainly on the possible environmental impact on the Ojos de Mar Lagoons, a freshwater ecosystem located at the mouth of the Maipo River.

New fight between references from Spain and China

On the other hand, this project also reflects the growing competition in Chile between large Spanish construction companies and Chinese companies in the sector. In recent weeks, companies such as Ferrovial, ACS and Sacyr have disputed with Asian firms contracts for more than 500 million in relevant works in the country, such as the concession of the Pie de Monte Route and the execution of the underground section of the Alameda-Melipilla Train.