SPR Barranquilla Coal Terminal
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The SPR Barranquilla coal terminal is located on the west shore of the Magdalena River, about 20 kilometers south of the river mouth (Bocas de Ceniza) in the Port of Barranquilla, Atlántico department, Colombia..[1]
Location
Background
The SPR Barranquilla terminal is the oldest continuously operating coal export terminal in the Port of Barranquilla, and one of the three largest, along with the Compas Barranquilla and Riverport Barranquilla coal terminals).
Coal handling operations at the Port of Barranquilla date back to at least December 1990, when the Atlantic Coal Company won a concession to export coal from the port.[2] In 1993, Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Barranquilla S.A. (commonly abbreviated as SPR Barranquilla) was designated as the port's administrator.[3] By 2010, Colombia's Superintendency of Ports and Transport reported that SPR Barranquilla had developed a well-established business handling both thermal and metallurgical coal, including a direct-loading coal berth and a 120,000-tonne coal storage area.[4]
In 2007, the Colombian government mandated that all of the country's coal terminals install direct vessel-loading systems to reduce environmental risks.[5] In early January 2014, Colombia's environmental licensing authority ANLA identified the Port of Barranquilla as one of four ports under investigation regarding compliance with the new government regulations.[6][7] Officials from three government agencies — ANLA, the Colombian Environmental Ministry, and the Superintendency of Ports and Transport — visited Barranquilla in early January 2014 and verified that the port had abandoned the older, now-prohibited method of loading and unloading coal onto barges.[8] The Port of Barranquilla's historical timeline confirms that as of 2014 it was developing an encapsulated direct cargo loading system, as required by the new law.[9]
In a separate news report from January 2014, René Puche, president of the Port of Barranquilla, asserted that the port was no longer in the business of exporting coal, and that its final coal shipment was dispatched in November 2013. Mr. Puche added that the port would continue to export coke, for which it still had all the necessary environmental permits.[10]
However, a January 2014 report from Semana identified Barranquilla among the Colombian ports that had complied with the new law, and indicated that Sociedad Portuaria de Barranquilla continued to export roughly half a million tonnes of coal per year.[11] Statistical reports from Colombia's Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte confirmed that SPR Barranquilla's export of bulk coal remained steady throughout this period; the port recorded total annual coal throughput of 711,151 tonnes in 2014, essentially unchanged from the 711,111 tonnes reported in 2013.[12] Coal shipments through the terminal continued in 2015, declining only slightly to 647,086 tpa.[12]
As of September 2015, the port was reportedly developing an enclosed conveyor belt system for improved coal loading.[13]
Over the following decade, SPR Barranquilla remained the most active coal terminal at the Port of Barranquilla, regularly accounting for a large percentage of the port's shipments, even as newer terminals operated by Compas SA, SP Riverport SA, and Bitco SA began operating in the Barranquilla area. SPR Barranquilla's annual coal throughput figures were as follows from 2016 through 2025:
- 2016 683,763 tonnes[14]
- 2017 976,377 tonnes[15]
- 2018 926,234 tonnes[16]
- 2019 667,245 tonnes[17]
- 2020 635,697 tonnes[18]
- 2021 928,854 tonnes[19]
- 2022 870,472 tonnes[20]
- 2023 964,550 tonnes[21]
- 2024 1,087,589 tonnes[22]
- 2025 456,352 tonnes[23]
Project Details
- Operator: Sociedad Portuaria de Barranquilla S.A.[24]
- Location: Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia[4]
- Annual Coal Capacity (Tonnes): 1.4 Mtpa[1]
- Status: Operating[23]
- Start Date: 1993[3]
- Type: Exports[11]
- Coal source: Colombia, including the departments of Boyacá[25], Cesar[26] and Norte de Santander[25]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Conceptual Analysis - Coal Alternatives Export Terminals (pp 6-7)". Votorantim. 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Sentencia T-242/14". Corte Constitucional - República de Colombia. 2014-04-10.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Río, Bocas de Ceniza y Puerto". El Tiempo. 1997-04-07. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 "La Logística Portuária (pp 47-53)" (PDF). Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte. 2010-07-31.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Decreto 3083 de 2007". Función Pública - Gobierno de Colombia. 2007-08-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "ANLA abre procesos de investigación sancionatoria a 4 puertos por incumplir con cargue directo de carbón". ANLA (Autoridad Nacional de Licencias Ambientales). 2014-01-03.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Cuatro puertos en la mira de ANLA", El Universal, January 4, 2014.
- ↑ "El puerto de Barranquilla sí cumple con la ley, según la revisión de Supertransporte", La República, January 7, 2014.
- ↑ "Historia del Puerto de Barranquilla 1936 – 2023". Puerto de Barranquilla.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Indicó que están dedicados exclusivamente a operaciones de cargue de Coque.", El Heraldo, January 4, 2014.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Situación carbonífera en Colombia". Semana. 2014-01-23. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Boletín Delegado de Puertos IV Trimestre - Acumulado del 2015 (p 22)" (PDF). Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte. 2016-02-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Puertos de Barranquilla se alistan para exportar carbón". El Heraldo. 2015-09-01. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Informe Consolidado Diciembre 2016 (p 29)" (PDF). Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte. 2017-01-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Boletín Estadístico Tráfico Portuario en Colombia Año 2019 (p 32)" (PDF). Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte. 2020-02-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Boletín Estadístico Tráfico Portuario en Colombia Año 2018 (p 17)" (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 17)" (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 17)" (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 17)" (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 18)" (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 17)" (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 17)" (PDF). Superintendencia de Puertos y Transporte. 2025-02-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Boletín Estadístico Tráfico Portuario en Colombia - Enero a diciembre de 2025 (p 18)" (PDF). SuperTransporte (Superintendencia de Transporte). 2026-02-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Port of Barranquilla Corporate Group". Puerto de Barranquilla.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Llegan por río a Barranquilla las primeras 4.000 toneladas de carbón". Ministerio de Transporte. 2015-09-20.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Exportarán Carbón por Barranquilla". El Tiempo. 1998-06-01.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
Related GEM.wiki articles
External resources
- http://www.worldportsource.com/ports/COL_Port_of_Barranquilla_189.php
- http://www.lbhcolombia.com/cargoes_ports
