Puerto Drummond Coal Terminal
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The Puerto Drummond Coal Terminal is a private coal port owned and operated by Drummond, Colombia's largest coal producer. It is located on the Caribbean coast, approximately 10 km from Ciénaga, Magdalena department, Colombia. The terminal exports coal from Drummond's Pribbenow, El Descanso and El Corozo coal mines.
Location
Project Details
- Operator: Drummond Ltd[1]
- Location: Ciénaga, Magdalena department, Colombia[1][2][3]
- Annual Capacity (Tonnes): 60 million[1][2][4]
- Start Year: 1995[1]
- Status: Operating[5]
- Type: Exports[2]
- Coal source: Pribbenow, El Descanso and El Corozo mines, Colombia[2]
Background
Puerto Drummond is the largest coal export terminal in Colombia ― both in terms of capacity and annual coal shipments. Operational since 1995, it is a private deep-water ocean port on the Caribbean Sea in Ciénaga, Magdalena department, approximately 20 kilometers south of Santa Marta.[1] The port's infrastructure includes two direct loading systems with a capacity of 8,000 tonnes per hour each.[1] The onsite coal storage facilities can accommodate up to 1.5 million metric tons of coal, with the ability to keep varying qualities of coal separate or to blend as needed.[1] The port is equipped to serve Handy, Supramax, Panamax, Cape Size or New Castle Max vessels[1] and can simultaneously handle up to four Cape Size vessels.[2]
Coal is brought to the port by train via a renovated 192-kilometer railway[6] from Drummond's Pribbenow, El Descanso and El Corozo open-pit coal mines in the Cesar Coal Basin near La Loma (Cesar department).[2] The company's rail fleet includes 44 locomotives and nearly 2000 railway cars, organized into 15 trains to facilitate continuous transport from the mines to the port.[2]
Expansion of port facilities (2010-2014)
The company stated in August 2010 that it planned to expand production from the El Descanso mine from its "current capacity of 3 million tonnes per year to 25 million tonnes per year over the next three years." The company noted that this would require the expansion of the Puerto Drummond coal port, which was handling coal from both El Descanso mine and the company's La Loma mine. The company also stated that it had "committed to the government to build a direct ship loader" at Puerto Drummond.[7]
In 2014, Drummond unveiled US$360 million in improvements to the port's infrastructure, including the installation of state-of-the-art direct loading facilities.[8] The port's initial operating capacity of 30 Mtpa (million tonnes per year) was doubled to 60 Mtpa in August with the completion of a second ship loader.[9][10] These improvements established Puerto Drummond as the largest coal port in Colombia, allowing the company to offer export services to other Colombian mining companies.[10]
According to Drummond's website, the port holds certifications in environmental management (ISO 14001) and industrial safety and occupational health (ISO 45001), as well as in physical security and port protection.[1] The dock has systems for drainage, containment, industrial wastewater management, dust suppression, and water spraying.[1]
Coal throughput statistics
Thermal coal exports from Puerto Drummond totaled 21.7 million tonnes in 2014[11], 27.756 million tonnes in 2015[12], and 32.10 million tonnes in 2016.[13] Annual coal exports have remained steadily above 25 Mtpa for more than a decade, clearly establishing Puerto Drummond as Colombia's largest coal export facility.
- 2017 32,378,947 tonnes[14]
- 2018 31,463,289 tonnes[15]
- 2019 31,098,429 tonnes[16]
- 2020 29,719,149 tonnes[17]
- 2021 31,544,795 tonnes[18]
- 2022 27,746,790 tonnes[19]
- 2023 27,037,622 tonnes[20]
- 2024 30,185,083 tonnes[21]
- 2025 25,146,521 tonnes[5]
Markets served
According to the company website, coal from Puerto Drummond is exported to South America, Central America, North America, Europe, Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa.[1] While Europe has traditionally been the largest export market for coal shipped from Puerto Drummond, new markets in Asia also opened up as a result of the 80%-20% partnership established between Drummond and Japan-based Itochu Corporation in 2011.[22]
Environmental violations, strikes, and other disruptions
In mid-January 2013, a coal barge from Port Drummond encountered high winds and waves during a Caribbean storm, and a crane had to be employed to remove water and prevent the barge from sinking. During the removal process, Drummond estimated that approximately 200 tons of coal were deposited in the ocean. In response, Colombia's environmental licensing body suspended loading operations at Port Drummond for three weeks.[23][24][25]
Between July and September 2013, a strike at Puerto Drummond and its associated mines halted Drummond's Colombian coal exports for 53 days. The strike was called in part to demand the relocation of port workers expected to lose their jobs with the introduction of government-mandated direct loading in 2014.[26].
Operations at Puerto Drummond were again suspended for nearly three months in early 2014 while Drummond completed government-mandated changes to its loading system, replacing barges and cranes with "direct loading" conveyor-belt technology.[27][28] Drummond claimed that the mid-2013 strike was partly responsible for the company's failure to meet the January 1, 2014 deadline for installing direct loading technology at the port. Colombian authorities granted Drummond permission to temporarily use coal export facilities at the adjacent Puerto Nuevo coal terminal, operated by Drummond's competitor Prodeco, while Puerto Drummond was being renovated, but Drummond was unable to exercise this option as Prodeco's port was already operating at full capacity.[29]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 "Puerto Drummond". Drummond Ltd. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Inventario de Emisiones de GEI - Año 2025 (pp 12, 15-22)". Drummond Ltd. 2026. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Punta de muelle Drummond • Ciénaga, Magdalena, Colombia". Google Maps. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Colombia: Diversidad Minera (p 27)" (PDF). Agencia Nacional de Minería. 2022-08-31.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Boletín Estadístico Tráfico Portuario en Colombia - Enero a diciembre de 2025 (p 21)" (PDF). SuperTransporte (Superintendencia de Transporte). 2026-02-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Our trains". Drummond Ltd. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Drummond, "Drummond Limited Plans new development", Media Release, August 21, 2010.
- ↑ "Drummond Restarts Port Operations with an Investment of US$360 Million in a Modern Direct Ship Loading System", Drummond press release, March 2014.
- ↑ "Resources and Energy Quarterly - June Quarter 2014: Colombia (p 20)" (PDF). Australian Government Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics. 2014-06-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 10.0 10.1 "CNR y Drummond llegan a un acuerdo para retomar exportación de carbón", La República, October 1, 2014.
- ↑ "Colombian thermal coal exports rose in 2014" World Coal, Jan 16, 2015
- ↑ "Colombian 2015 thermal coal exports rise 7.6% on year to 80.64 million mt" Platts, Jan 11, 2016
- ↑ "Colombian thermal coal exports rise 9% in 2016 to record 88 mil mt" Platts, Jan 17, 2017
- ↑ "Boletín Estadístico Tráfico Portuario en Colombia Año 2017 (p 21)" (PDF). Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte. 2018-08-31.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Boletín Estadístico Tráfico Portuario en Colombia Año 2018 (p 20)" (PDF). Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte. 2019-02-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Boletín Estadístico Tráfico Portuario en Colombia Año 2019 (p 20)" (PDF). Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte. 2020-02-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Boletín Estadístico Tráfico Portuario en Colombia Año 2020 (p 20)" (PDF). Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte. 2021-01-31.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Boletín Estadístico Tráfico Portuario en Colombia Año 2021 (p 20)" (PDF). Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte. 2022-02-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Boletín Estadístico Tráfico Portuario en Colombia Año 2022 (p 21)" (PDF). Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte. 2023-02-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Boletín Estadístico Tráfico Portuario en Colombia Año 2023 (p 20)" (PDF). Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte. 2024-02-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Boletín Estadístico Tráfico Portuario en Colombia Año 2024 (p 20)" (PDF). Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte. 2025-02-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Itochu-Drummond deal opens Asia to Colombian coal", Reuters, June 16, 2011.
- ↑ "Drummond vows to improve coal loading at its Colombian port", Reuters, February 7, 2013.
- ↑ "Drummond to Restart 80,000 Tons a Day of Colombian Coal Exports", Bloomberg, March 1, 2013.
- ↑ "Drummond LTD Responds with FACTS and Asks WHY?", Drummond website, accessed January 2015.
- ↑ "Drummond Miners in Colombia Return to Work, Ending 53-Day Strike", Bloomberg, September 16, 2013.
- ↑ "Colombia Orders Drummond Coal to Halt Port Operations", Wall Street Journal, January 8, 2014.
- ↑ "Colombia Bans Coal Loading by 2nd-Biggest Producer Drummond", Bloomberg, January 9, 2014.
- ↑ "Drummond declares force majeure in Colombia as Glencore denies it access to coal port", Mining.com, January 13, 2014.
