It was formally opened in 1945 after a railway was built as a supply route to connect the site with industrial facilities in the Sarajevo and Mostar areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was then part of Yugoslavia.

[needs update] In 1936, it was decided to develop the Port of Ploče, as the site at the mouth of the Neretva on the Adriatic coast represented the natural outlet for the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

The works were delayed by the onset of World War II, but they were intensified in 1945 after modernization of the Sarajevo–Ploče narrow gauge railway.

[3] The port officially started operating on July 15, 1945, handling imports of coal and cereal and exports of bauxite and timber.

The railway was rebuilt to standard gauge in 1966, and electric traction was installed in 1969 to increase the port's throughput, which reached one million tonnes within a few years.

[10] The Port of Ploče is located on the Adriatic Sea coast in the area of the Neretva river.

[11][12] All the port's quays are linked by tracks connected to a single-track railway to Mostar, Sarajevo, Osijek and further north towards Budapest.

[8] Jadrolinija ferries sail between Ploče and Trpanj on the Pelješac peninsula and the D415 state road.

The 5 million tonne-per-year bulk cargo terminal will expand the port area by 20 hectares (49 acres).

[5][7] The new bulk cargo terminal is planned to accommodate ships with a draught of up to 18.5 metres (61 feet), and 200,000 tonnes deadweight (DWT), i.e. Capesize vessels.

[32] It aims to attract large quantities of transport for the ArcelorMittal, GIKIL, Birač Zvornik and Aluminij industrial plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which are the main users of the port.

These investments were originally scheduled for 2007–2014, but the pace of development is slower than expected, and delays of a year to two had been observed by 2010.

[6] The investments made since 2007 and those planned as of 2011 are aimed at increasing the port's throughput from 8 to 10 million tonnes of cargo per year.