Portren

Portren S.A. (also written PorTren) is a Uruguayan logistics company founded in 2021 and based in Uruguay. It is a joint venture between the Uruguayan logistics group Christophersen and the Spanish company Cointer Concesiones. Portren is the asset-owning entity within the DBCC Transport rail freight operation: it owns the rolling stock and the railway maintenance depot (Centro de Operaciones y Mantenimiento) located between Juanicó and Canelones. The company is led by Enrique Blázquez. Portren operates as part of DBCC Transport, a provider of rail freight services in Uruguay. Since April 2024, DBCC Transport has been transporting cellulose from the UPM factory in the north of Durazno Department to the port of Montevideo along the Montevideo–Paso de los Toros line, under a 22-year operating contract. Portren and its sister operating company Liropa together employ around 80 people. Liropa S.A. is the operating company, owned by Portren and DB International Operations, and is led by Diego Zaragoza. The DBCC fleet includes seven Stadler Euro 4001 locomotives (purchased for approximately US$45 million), 120 freight wagons for cellulose transport manufactured by Talleres Alegría (approximately US$21 million), and 20 tank wagons for heating oil, sulfuric acid, and caustic soda (approximately US$4 million). The maintenance depot, which broke ground in March 2022 with an estimated construction cost of US$25 million, opened in November 2023. It handles fleet maintenance, staff training, locomotive crew changes, and train inspections, and also houses the DBCC headquarters, offices, and a traffic control center. The depot is connected to the Montevideo–Paso de los Toros railway line. Portren is a private company. Its role is primarily as the infrastructure and rolling stock owner within the DBCC Transport joint venture, supporting the long-term cellulose freight contract with UPM.

Portren S.A. was founded in 2021 as a joint venture between the Uruguayan logistics group Christophersen and the Spanish company Cointer Concesiones. It was established to serve as the asset-owning entity within the DBCC Transport rail freight project in Uruguay. In March 2022, construction began on the Centro de Operaciones y Mantenimiento (maintenance depot) between Juanicó and Canelones, with an estimated cost of US$25 million. The depot opened in November 2023. Since April 2024, DBCC Transport has been transporting cellulose from the UPM factory in northern Durazno Department to the port of Montevideo along the Montevideo–Paso de los Toros line, under a 22-year operating contract. Portren owns the rolling stock and the depot, while its sister company Liropa S.A. acts as the operating company. Together, Portren and Liropa employ around 80 people. Portren is led by Enrique Blázquez.

• 2024

  DBCC Transport begins cellulose rail freight transport from UPM factory to Montevideo port in April.

• 2023

  Maintenance depot opens in November.

• 2022

  Construction begins on the Centro de Operaciones y Mantenimiento (maintenance depot) between Juanicó and Canelones.

• 2021

  Portren S.A. founded as a joint venture between Christophersen and Cointer Concesiones.

Asset-owning railway logistics company within the DBCC Transport joint venture, supporting long-term cellulose freight for UPM.

• Rail freight transport services

• Rolling stock ownership

• Railway maintenance depot operations

1. 1DBCC Transport - DBCC TRANSPORT URUGUAYdbcc-transport.com.uy
2. 2Portren - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3DBCC Transport - Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org