CMPC to invest $80 mln to triple logistics operations at Brazil’s Port of Pelotas

Chilean pulp producer CMPC plans to invest 400 million reais ($80 million) to upgrade port infrastructure at the Port of Pelotas, tripling its logistics operations at the site, the company said.

The investment was confirmed by Leonardo Maurano, general director of CMPC’s Rio Grande do Sul terminal, following the signing of a contract granting the company an area at the Port of Rio Grande to develop a pulp export complex. That project involves an additional investment of 1.5 billion reais.

According to Cristiano Klinger, chief executive of Portos RS, CMPC’s current logistics already integrate the ports of Pelotas and Rio Grande to serve the company’s industrial unit in Guaíba.

At the Port of Pelotas, operations are focused on shipping logs used as raw material for CMPC’s plants. The cargo is transported by vessels to the industrial units, while the pulp produced is shipped back by the same mode to the Port of Rio Grande, from where it is exported.

Below is the historical series of containerized pulp exports through the Port of Rio Grande since 2023. The data were collected and processed by Datamar.

Pulp Exports | Port of Rio Grande | Jan 2022 – Nov 2025 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Under the new contract signed on Tuesday (20), CMPC is expected to maintain this operational model but with a sharp increase in volumes.

“Today, Pelotas handles around 1 million tonnes of logs. This will rise to nearly 3 million tonnes of logs shipped from the Port of Pelotas to supply the two plants,” Maurano said.

The new terminal developed by the Chilean group is seen as key to enabling operations at the company’s future pulp mill in Barra do Ribeiro.

Klinger said the concession creates the conditions needed to expand export capacity, allowing pulp shipments to nearly double.

“All the pulp produced returns to the Port of Rio Grande. With this investment, a new terminal will be built, which will almost double the volume of pulp exported, already factoring in the implementation of this new terminal,” he said.

CMPC’s new mill in Rio Grande do Sul represents the company’s largest investment to date, exceeding 25 billion reais.

Source: GZH Zona Sul

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