VLI increases export capacity with new draft at Tiplam, in Baixada Santista

The national projection of record harvests of grains and sugar and the new depth in the channel of the Terminal Integrador Portuário Luiz Antônio Mesquita (Tiplam), located in the central part of the port of Santos, bring optimistic perspectives for VLI – operator of Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica – in 2023. The desilting carried out by the company at the site increased the capacity of the export berths, with immediate results. As a result, in the last month, the terminal reached a historic milestone, when it carried out the first shipment of more than 70 thousand tons in a single ship, loaded with sugar – which reflects VLI’s contribution to increasing competitiveness for exports of the commodity, which continues in harvest peak until August, in the Port of Santos.

“The desilting of the channel is a routine activity in Brazilian ports, which we carry out every two years for maintenance at Tiplam. The service is essential to continue the growing volume of exports through the terminal and reinforces the company’s ability to serve our customers in a period when record harvests of sugar and grains are expected”, explains the general manager of Operations do Tiplam, Denilson Fernandes.

The desilting that resulted in an increase in the draft was carried out between the 1st and the 25th of February, when the bathymetric survey indicated the possibility of improvement for export berths 2 and 3, with an increase of 15 cm. The service was carried out with the appropriate license from the environmental agency (Cetesb) and authorization from the Brazilian Navy, through the Port Authority. VLI also monitored all issues related to the environment, including the disposal of sediments as determined by the responsible bodies. The depth became 13.35 meters and resulted in an increase in shipping capacity by a thousand tons per ship, which corresponds to 120 thousand tons more per year.

Cargo loading carried out by Tiplam is one of the main stages of the logistics chain created by VLI in the Southeast Corridor of the Centro-Atlântica Railway (FCA), a route of high relevance for the national flow of agricultural bulk. The integrating terminals of Guará (sugar) and Uberaba (grains) receive and forward to Tiplam, through FCA, the harvest of some of the main producing regions of the country, such as Mato Grosso, Goiás, São Paulo and Minas Gerais. Currently, the terminal is responsible for handling around 1/5 of the sugar exported through the Port of Santos.

Last year, around 8.1 million tons of agro products were exported, against 7.3 million tons in 2021. Total cargo handling at Tiplam also increased, reaching the mark of 11.7 million tons in 2022.

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