Dredging at Port of Antonina will create new business opportunities

Last week, the Portos do Paraná port authority approved the increase from 8 to 8.5 meters in the operational draft of the access channel to the Antonina terminal. This increase will mean an additional 2,500 tons of cargo on each ship that the port receives.

The Maritime Authority – Captaincy of the Ports of Paraná – approved the new operational draft after analyzing the bathymetry surveys carried out during the last dredging in the access channel to the Port of Antonina, completed in August 2020.

“Considering that the Port of Antonina handles mainly solid bulk, this increase of half a meter means approximately 2,500 tons of additional cargo in each ship that the port receives”, says the director-president of Portos do Paraná, Luiz Fernando Garcia.

The channel’s operational draft is being restored in stages. Last year it went from 7.5 to 8 meters. The expectation is to reach 9.5 meters eventually.

The Director of Operations for Portos do Paraná, Luiz Teixeira da Silva Júnior explains that this is possible thanks to the maintenance dredging service and the adequacy of nautical signaling (in buoys). “It is part of an adequacy plan until it reaches the maximum possible draft. Certainly, this measure will make the Antonina terminal more competitive and will directly impact our ability to attract larger volumes of cargo”, guarantees the director.

Gilberto Birkhan, president of Terminais Portuarios Ponta do Félix (TPPF), which operates in Antonina, says that the company is excited about the draft increase. “This increases our prospects for new cargo and new business. Working together with Portos do Paraná, I believe that we can go further and reach even greater depths, which would increase our differentials”, he says.

According to him, the impact of this draft increase will be felt directly during the first soybean meal shipment in the next few days. “It is important to count on this because we will attract cargo that requires special handling,” completes the president of TPPF, referring to the non-GMO soybean meal that is being handled by the terminal.

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