Container vessel calls at Brazilian ports fell 13% in January YoY

A survey carried out by Datamar pointed out that in January, container vessel calls in Brazilian ports dropped 13% in relation to the same month in 2020. In comparison with the previous month, December 2020, the drop was even greater: 16 %.

Berth occupancy at the Port of Santos also decreased by 11% compared to January 2020 and decreased by 15% compared to December 2020.  This was even though December had seen a 20% growth in container handling compared to December of the previous year, to 437,400 TEU, and an increase of 9.5% over November, according to the Santos Port Authority (SPA).

In the comparison between weeks, however, the last 2 weeks remained stable, with the sum of Brazilian ports reaching 139 calls a week. In the second week of 2021, there was an increase of 4.5%.

See the chart below for the number of vessel calls per week since January 2020:

Weekly Container Vessel Calls in Brazilian Ports | Jan 2020 to Jan 2021

Source: DataLiner

The table below shows container vessel calls in each Brazilian port in January 2021 and a comparison with the same month of 2020. Almost all ports recorded a drop in berthing. Some were stable. The number of moorings increased only in the Port of Vitória, which had one ship more.

According to Leonardo Bianchi, from CODESA’s Planning and Development Coordination (COPLAD), the Port of Vitória registered an increase of 55.68% in the handling of containerized cargo in January, with 258,411 tons handled. According to Bianchi, the Port of Vitória usually records a low cargo movement in January due to the seasonality of port activities. “However, we can see the effect of the continued dynamism in port operations during the last quarter of 2020 in the January results, mainly in the handling of loose general cargo and containers”, he underlined.

Container Vessel Calls in Brazil by Port | Jan 2020 and Jan 2021

Source: DataLiner (To request a DataLiner demo click here)

No blank sailings are forecast for February, according to a survey by Datamar, It is also worth remembering that the country still faces a container shortage, and this has an effect on international trade.

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