Paranaguá Container Terminal to invest BRL 370 million until 2023

The Paranaguá Container Terminal (TCP), controlled by China Merchants Port, will begin a R$ 370 million investment plan that will last through the end of 2023. The goal is to expand capacity, both for storage and cargo handling.

A portion of the funds will be used to buy 11 RTG cranes used to transport containers. Fulfilling these investments was already part of the concession’s duties. Still, The terminal administrator decided to make the purchase now because of the tax exemption window created by the extension of Reporto. This legal mechanism suspends the collection of federal taxes on importing equipment in the maritime sector. The program was extended until the end of 2023 by the BR do Mar statute.

The company’s objective is to expand cargo handling capacity by 15%.

See below the monthly flow of imported and exported containers at the Port of Paranaguá from January 2021 to April 2021. The data below if from DataLiner.

Container throughput at the Port of Paranaguá | Jan 2021 – April 2025 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

The investment plan also includes expanding by 43% the area destined for refrigerated containers, which will feature 5,178 outlets.  The Paranaguá Container Terminal stands out in terms of exports of frozen meats – in 2021, the terminal accounted for 35.4% of the country’s chicken exports.

The patio area will also be expanded by 20,000 square meters. This will be possible by optimizing the terminal’s structures, which already occupy 480 thousand m².

The logistical chaos created by the pandemic generated the need to expand capacity. TCP concluded investments that increased its area by 150,000 m² at the end of 2019, just before the health crisis began. According to Thomas Lima, the company’s commercial and institutional director, at the time, this was thought to be enough to meet the demand for the next several decades. “With the pandemic, we had the capacity immediately taken. Everything has changed,” he says.

During the Covid-19 crisis, global logistics chains underwent complete disorganization amid the closure of ports, interruptions in production lines, and delays in cargo release. Effects seen since 2020 include congestion at terminals, shortages of containers in the market, and crammed warehouses.

Besides the pandemic-generated pressure, throughput increased. At TCP, in 2021, the volume of full containers had an annual growth of 5.9%. Throughput followed an increase of 2.3% in the first quarter of this year.

In the executive’s assessment, the prospects are positive. “The Port of Paranaguá is very focused on agribusiness, a growing sector, despite the country’s GDP. The world is consuming more meat, which drives cargo flow.”

Lima recognizes that the pandemic continues to impact operations. The recent lockdowns in China have reduced the arrival of empty reefer containers in the country, creating a bottleneck for meat exports. “Exporters have full warehouses because the slaughter has not stopped,” he says.

The executive believes that making projections about the future is difficult. However, he believes that if China does not implement more lockdowns, the flow between Asia and Brazil should normalize by the end of this year.

Source: Valor Econômico

To read the full original article, please go to: https://valor.globo.com/empresas/noticia/2022/06/17/tcp-planeja-investir-r-370-milhoes-ate-2023.ghtml

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