39 million tons handled at Rio Grande do Sul ports in 2020

On January 18, the Superintendence of the Ports of Rio Grande do Sul (Portos RS) released the 2020 result for the three public ports under its administration: the Port of Rio Grande, Pelotas, and Porto Alegre. The total handling of the three public ports in Rio Grande do Sul was 39,917,286 tons.

Throughout 2020, the Port of Rio Grande handled more than 38 million tons of cargo in the public complex alone. One of the highlights of the year was June, when 4,401,716 tons were handled, breaking the record that had been set in September 2018, when 4,340,915 tons were handled. June 2020 was therefore the port’s best month ever.

At the close of 2020, the Port of Pelotas showed an increase in the movement of wood logs, moving more than 23,000 more tons than in 2019, a positive difference of 2.60%. Currently, the handling of logs accounts for more than 90% of the handling at Port of Pelotas.

Regarding the main destinations and origins of exports and imports from the Port of Rio Grande, there are few differences with 2019 in terms of the percentage share of countries. China, which was in first place in 2019 and received 58.38% of cargo exported, remained in first place in 2020, receiving 52.77% of cargo exported. In terms of exports, Algeria lost the first-place position to Morocco, which increased its share position from 7.82% of imports to 9.27% of imports. In 2020, there was an increase of 5.86% in imports at the Rio-Grandino terminal, representing a difference of approximately 483,000 more imported tons. The biggest quantitative highlights of exports in the period were soybeans, pulp, and rice.

The star of the Rio Grande Port Complex’s handling is still soy (grains and soybean meal), representing more than 32% of the complex’s handling, and pulp, which represents almost 9%. Some of the goods handled that stood out in terms of handling increases in 2020 were shipments of rice, which increased by 21.74%, and shipments of fertilizer, which increased by more than 15% compared to 2019.

Information referring to the state’s Private Use Terminals (TUPs) has not yet been released by the superintendence, as these numbers are awaiting approval by ANTAQ and should be available in mid-February.

Outlook for 2021

According to Fernando Estima, Superintendent of Portos RS, the year 2021 is a great window for the promotion of multimodal logistics – among them the waterway – through actions and public policies that were already realized in 2020, such as approval of the Porto do Rio Grande Complex’s new draft which already allows the movement of some of the largest ships in the world on the Rio Grande channel. The executive also highlights the signing of agreements and deals with the private sector in the search for new partnerships for the logistics market, especially for the Rio Grande Porto Indústria project. Among other 2020 achievements that are already being positively impacted in 2021, the superintendent also highlighted the public-private partnership for the Embarcadero Project on the pier of Porto Alegre’s historical city center, with the opening of the commercial complex scheduled for March this year. Finally, Fernando also mentioned the prospect of the autarchy becoming a public company in 2021, providing more agility and autonomy to the state’s ports.

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