Direct route from Asia to Puerto Antioquia: what changes for importers

CMA CGM added Puerto Antioquia, in Turbo, to its PEX2 service. On October 9 the terminal announced that the direct route to Puerto Antioquia is now a weekly connection with the main ports in Asia, China included. The first vessel, the CMA CGM Cape Cod, was scheduled to arrive in Turbo on October 8.

How the service works

Vessels sail from ports such as Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao, Hong Kong and Busan, cross the Pacific, call at Panama and Cartagena, and arrive in Turbo. Transit takes 34 to 36 days, depending on the port of origin. The ships average 16,000 TEU and reach up to 366 meters in length. With this service, the terminal now has ten regular lines.

Direct does not mean nonstop

Several headlines describe the route as “nonstop,” but that is not accurate: the vessel stops at Lázaro Cárdenas, Panama and Cartagena before reaching Turbo. What is true is that the service is direct, because a container loaded in Asia and bound for Puerto Antioquia stays on the same vessel all the way to Turbo, without being unloaded at an intermediate port to wait for another ship. At those stops the vessel unloads and picks up cargo for other customers, so the 34 to 36 days already include them. Turbo comes right after Cartagena, and the vessel does not end its voyage there: it continues to Caucedo and Kingston.

Two more days at sea, less trucking

According to CMA CGM, reaching Turbo takes only two more days than reaching Cartagena. The carrier also estimates that the average distance to Medellín and Bogotá is 43% shorter than from other terminals in northern Colombia. However, that is the carrier’s estimate, not an independent measurement.

The math matters in Antioquia because, according to the terminal, between 20% and 22% of Colombia’s imports from Asia end up in the department, and Turbo sits about 290 kilometers from its center. Whether the extra two days at sea pay off depends on the total landed cost: ocean freight, terminal charges and inland transport. For now, there are no published rates to compare.

Who wins with the direct route to Puerto Antioquia

Importers with cargo bound for Antioquia benefit the most: they cut road distance and, according to CMA CGM, bookings to Puerto Antioquia get priority in space allocation. Bogotá is a different case. The carrier includes the capital in its distance comparison but does not detail the savings, so they will have to be measured case by case. Cargo headed to the Caribbean coast sees no change, since the vessel still calls at Cartagena.

Exporters, on the other hand, have no news yet. What has been published describes the connection from Asia to Colombia, and there is no information on conditions for exporting from Turbo.

What remains to be seen

It is a single service from a single carrier, so if the vessel runs late in Asia, Panama or Cartagena, the delay reaches Turbo. The first months will show whether the direct route to Puerto Antioquia keeps its weekly frequency and what rates are published for the full trip.

In the meantime, at Fenix we have offices in Medellín, Bogotá, Cartagena and Buenaventura, and we follow this route by comparing, shipment by shipment, entry through Cartagena versus Turbo for cargo bound for the interior.

Sources

• Container News: CMA CGM adds Puerto Antioquia to revamped PEX2 service
• El Colombiano: Puerto Antioquia estrena ruta marítima directa con Asia
• Nación Paisa: Puerto Antioquia estrena conexión marítima semanal con Asia
• La República: Puerto Antioquia tendrá nueva conexión semanal y directa con puertos de Asia