Rio de Janeiro Plans Cargo Expansion Amid Growing Port Competition

Despite the historical leadership of the Port of Santos, founded 132 years ago, the port complex in Rio de Janeiro—114 years old—continues to compete for cargo along with other Brazilian ports. However, the president of PortosRio, Francisco Martins, prefers not to use the term that implies competition. He attended a reception for port authorities organized by Grupo Tribuna on Wednesday (18).

“I don’t see a competition, but rather a complementarity. For instance, when the Port of Santos faced logistical issues regarding container movement, the Port of Rio absorbed that demand and ensured the sector did not suffer any decline. In other words, we also can respond to any logistical hurdles faced by the ports in the South and Southeast,” he explained.

PortosRio is the Port Authority responsible for managing the public ports of Rio de Janeiro, including the ports of Rio de Janeiro and Itaguaí, as well as those in Niterói and Angra dos Reis.

Martins states that the collection of ports in Rio is rising and makes a slight ‘provocation’ to Santos. “Itaguaí will be auctioning the so-called middle area (ITG02) later this year (in October), increasing the movement of ore by more than 27 million tons annually. With this and other leases, Santos will soon see us in its rearview mirror. But it’s not a competition; it’s a complementarity.”

Investments

According to PortosRio’s president, the increase is justified by the investments being made. Francisco Martins provides one example: a 23% rise in cargo movement in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year.

“This is a port with projected investments of around R$ 400 million solely for contracted works and dredging execution. We are increasing our depth to accommodate ships up to 366 meters long, just as the Port of Itaguaí already does. There are high expectations, with many areas to be leased,” he noted.

Source: A Tribuna

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