Capacity at Paranaguá port to expand through investment of R$703m

The Port of Paranaguá has been receiving several public and private investments despite the crisis caused by the new coronavirus pandemic. The port authority that manages the port and that is responsible for providing the necessary infrastructure for cargo-handling activities will invest R$ 703 million in the coming years. The contract for the executive project to modernize the Eastern Export Corridor will cost R$4 million.

This week, Rocha Terminals Portuarios e Logística announced new investments to double the storage capacity and handling of solid bulk through the port’s Eastern Export Corridor. “We are going to expand the total storage capacity in Paranaguá to 270,000 tons. We are also going to expand the unloading capacity to more than 600 trucks/day, with two new tippers”, explained the company’s Export Bulk superintendent.

The expansion project will double the current infrastructure of the Solid Bulk Export Terminal, creating two new warehouses with a storage capacity of 62,000 tons each. The work begins this month and is expected to be completed by December 2021.

Operating in ports from the north to the south of the country, Rocha handles 20 million tons of products per year. In addition to exporting bulk (soy and corn), it operates with solid import bulk (fertilizers), liquid bulk, pulp, steel products, and general cargo.

According to the company’s CEO, Juliano Agnolo, the investment in expanding the structure in the Port of Paranaguá is important not only for the company but also for Brazilian agribusiness (“the engine of the country” he believes) for the state of Paraná and the ports of Paraná.

Export Corridor is planned for the next 50 years

The company Portos do Paraná has already contracted the basic project for the modernization and remodeling of the Eastern Export Corridor of the Port of Paranaguá. The work will increase the complex’s operational capacity by 100%.

The company’s CEO, Luiz Fernando Garcia, explains that the objective is to provide conditions for the complex to meet the demand with excellence for the next 50 years. “Considering the power of the ship loaders (ship loading equipment) and the market demand, we are going to invest in this project to reach a volume of up to 18,000 tons per hour, that is, 6000 tons/hour in each berth,” says Garcia.

The basic project for the refurbishment works of the complex will be the basis for the executive project and also for the works that will double the capacity for shipping grain and bran through the three berths in the corridor (212, 213, and 214). The objective is to increase productivity to reduce operating time, increase vessel turnover and decrease the cost of the entire chain.

The proposal is to develop a new system by installing new conveyor belts and acquiring new electromechanical equipment. The new belts will be enclosed and protected in order to avoid cargo losses, city pollution, and damage to air quality and the environment as a whole due to the dust. In the same project, all the necessary works are planned for the Export Corridor to operate at full capacity.

The Export Corridor of the Port of Paranaguá is formed by nine private terminals: Cargill, AGTL, Interalli, Centro Sul, Coamo, Louis Dreyfus, Cotriguaçu, Cimbesul, and Rocha, which add up to a global capacity of 1.025 million tons. There are also public terminals: a vertical silo with a static capacity of 100,000 tons, and four horizontal silos, each with a total capacity of 60,000 tons.

The Paraná model for shipping bulk export is unique in Brazil. The cargo can be loaded simultaneously in the three bulk cargo berths and it is possible that the same ship receives goods from different producers, in a pool system.

The storage structures are connected by conveyor belts. The lines take the products to the ships’ holds, which are loaded by six pieces of equipment (ship loaders) that operate in the three exclusive berths (212, 213, and 214).

Sharing is caring!