Above-average October rainfall impacts Paraná port operations

According to the Meteorological System of Paraná (Simepar), rainfall In the first 15 days of October has already surpassed the common average for the month throughout the state. While vital for water resources and for agriculture, rainfall in ports restricts handling, especially for solid bulk.

According to the CEO of Portos do Paraná, Luiz Fernando Garcia, the nature of this type of cargo – fertilizers, sugar, corn, soybeans, and bran – is susceptible to humidity. “If wet, the products spoil. Therefore, when there is a sign of rain, operations stop. The ship’s captain orders the holds to be closed until it is safe to open them again without harming the cargo”, he says.

According to data from the operations directorate of the public company, up until October 20th, the stoppages due to rain in the shipment of solid bulk exports – soy, bran, and corn –, through the Eastern Corridor, were equivalent to a period of eleven days.

“To give you an idea, last year, on the 31st of October, we hadn’t even stopped for ten days yet because of the rain”, says the CEO. Compared to the same first 20 days of October 2020 and 2021, the increase in downtime for product shipments due to rain is around 77%. In 2020, the downtime from October 1st to 20th was 6.2 days.

Imports– In the opposite direction of international trade, that is, in import, the impacts of so much rainfall are also reflected. Among all the fertilizers that are unloaded by the Ports of Paraná, for example, only urea can be unloaded during a drizzle. The others cannot be operated in damp conditions.

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