ANTAQ forecasts a 4% growth in port handling in 2021

ANTAQ’s Statistics and Performance-Evaluation Management projection points out that the national port sector (organized ports + authorized and leased terminals) should handle 1.2 billion tons in 2021, a growth of 4% compared to last year. Also according to the Agency, that number may be even higher if the iron ore movement recovers from the recent drops of 3% in 2020 and 10% in 2019.

On March 16, ANTAQ updated the Waterway Statistics to include the figures for January 2021. Cargo handling in the first month of the year was 87.6 million tons, a 14% increase compared to the same period of 2020. The Ponta da Madeira (MA) Maritime Terminal, which is the facility that handles most of the cargo in the country, handled 15.6 million tons in January this year, an increase of 7.7% compared to the same month of 2020. The main public port of Brazil – Santos (SP) – handled 7.2 million tons in January of this year, an increase of 12% compared to January of last year.

Expectations are optimistic for 2021 and also for the coming years, due to Brazilian agribusiness. According to projections, the agricultural harvest should reach 500 million tons by 2050, as highlighted by the manager of Statistics and Performance-Evaluation of ANTAQ, Fernando Serra. “In addition, Vale plans to resume the level of production of iron ore, reaching the level of 400 million tons per year.”

Last year, the national port sector handled 1.151 billion tons, a growth of 4.2% compared to 2019. There was an increase in the handling of solid bulk (+ 1.2%), liquid bulk (+ 14.8% ), and containers (+ 1.1%). The general cargo registered a slight decrease (-0.3%).

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