Brazilian Ports Handle 95% of Imports and Exports

Around 95% of international trade is conducted through seaports. This means that a significant portion of the electronics, clothing, and food that reach our homes travel long distances by sea before arriving in Brazil.

The Ministry of Ports and Airports launched the “MPor pelo Brasil” series to highlight the importance of port infrastructure. This initiative explores interesting facts about the country’s ports, airports, and waterways, providing relevant information about these key logistics hubs.

The first season kicked off at the Port of Santos, the largest in Latin America. To give you an idea, many of the clothes we buy arrive in Brazil through the port’s container terminals. These terminals specialize in loading and unloading operations, storage, and other essential services for containerized cargo transportation.

Have you ever seen those fresh orange juices in movies? Well, 76% of the world’s total production comes from Brazil! And the shirts we wear daily? They also reach us through the containers transported by ships. And that essential cup of coffee? It also passes through our ports, along with the sugar that sweetens it. To grasp the significance of this flow, in 2024, the Port of Santos recorded a total cargo movement of 179.8 million tons. The largest volumes were in containerized cargo shipments, totaling 4.8 thousand tons, and bulk sugar exports, reaching 3,656.5 thousand tons.

The Port of Santos features several container terminals, commonly known as containers, including Santos Brasil, Brasil Terminal Portuário (BTP), and DP World. To ensure efficiency and competitiveness, these terminals receive continuous investments in technology and expansion, enhancing speed, safety, and productivity in operations.

Vicente Costa, an operations specialist at BTP, emphasized the importance of technological investments, citing the Porto Sem Papel (Paperless Port) Program, which eliminates bureaucratic hurdles and increases process agility and reliability.

“When there is a discrepancy, we take a photo and automatically request another image for later verification. All this information is updated every five minutes and is available to all teams, including the commercial sector and the client, who can monitor everything in real-time. Additionally, the data is sent directly to port authorities, such as the Federal Revenue Service. Today, our system is fully integrated, making information access easier and allowing for real-time tracking of each container’s status,” he explained.

The chart below reveals Brazil’s top ten ports in terms of cargo share (container exports and imports) in January 2025. The data comes from DataLiner.

Top 10 Ports | Exports and Imports | 2025

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Security

Security in port areas is another crucial aspect. The MPor team closely followed the workday of a Portainer – Ship to Shore (STS) operator. Visits and workers’ activities are carried out under the supervision of safety firefighters, who operate around the clock to ensure worker protection. Sergio Souza, a firefighter at BTP, reinforced the importance of these measures: “We are responsible for all fire-fighting activities within BTP’s facility. We conduct all equipment inspections and remain on standby for any emergency,” he highlighted.

Moreover, port operations never stop. Work is conducted in shifts and rotations, ensuring daily operations so products reach their destinations as quickly as possible.

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