Antonina Port ranked fifth for growth amongst all Brazilian ports

The Port of Antonina, on the coast of Paraná, recorded the fifth highest growth among 19 Brazilian ports in 2019. According to the Infrastructure Ministry, the volume of cargo handled was 17.3% higher than in 2018. The national average growth rate among the country’s public ports was 10.3%.

According to Gilberto Birkhan, CEO of TPPF – Terminals Portuarios Ponta do Félix, the company responsible for operations at the port, the goal for 2020 is to maintain high rates of expansion. “The key is to recognize this new stage within the TPPF, with more consistency in the provision of services, especially in the services of product storage and specialized work with differentiated loads”, he points out.  He said the growth forecast for TPPF is 70% this year, with around 1.5 million tons of products expected to be handled this year, mainly involving non-GM soybean meal and fertilizers, the flagships of the Port of Antonina.

One of the main advantages of the TPPF for those who sell these products, according to Birkhan, is the customs terminal with a customs warehouse – which allowed a 47% growth of fertilizers deposited. “When the product arrives at our warehouses, it remains the property of the exporter abroad,” he explains. “The product can stay in Paraná or be nationalized to the state of Goiás, for example, without the payment of interstate ICMS”.

When the product arrives with a specific destination in Brazil, and the customer has the need to change the destination, state of consumption or use, it will be taxed with ICMS. This charge can be avoided by using the customs warehouse. “Obviously we also do direct unloading, the product goes straight to its final destination. But the great opportunity is the customs warehouse, which the TPPF offers ”, he adds.

In addition to the advantage of the warehouse, Birkhan says that the TPPF also has plans for improvements to the maritime structure to maintain growth. “We are looking forward to increasing the depth of our draft, which will allow us to further leverage these numbers,” he says.

Antonina in numbers – In 2019, 908,377 tons passed through the Port of Antonina. Of the total, 559,400 tons refer to the import of fertilizers, which grew 18% in relation to 2018. The export of bagged sugar grew 7% compared with 2018. In the case of soybean meal, the growth in handling exceeded 18% for the same period comparison.

TPPF currently has 60,000 square meters of storage infrastructure, with an estimated capacity of 200,000 static tons. This number will increase as the expansion works progress.

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