Paranaguá Port: A Growing Gateway for Brazilian Exports

The Port of Paranaguá has increasingly become a preferred choice for Brazilian states to export goods. Between 2019 and 2024, exports of products from other states through the Paraná port jumped from 6.6 million tonnes to 11.3 million tonnes, representing a 70% increase.

The data, which covers January to August, comes from the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (Secex) of the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce, and Services (MDIC) and was collected and organized by the Parana Institute for Economic and Social Development (Ipardes).

There was also an increase in traded value associated with these exports between the two periods. In 2019, the outflow of products from other Brazilian states reached US$3.2 billion, while in 2024, the value between January and August reached US$7.9 billion, a nominal increase of 143%. The comparison excludes inflation over the period, which was 36%.

There was also a growth in the number of states using the Port of Paranaguá for their exports. Five years ago, 20 states, in addition to Paraná, shipped their products through this port terminal between January and August. In 2024, since the beginning of the year, there have been 26.

COMPETITIVENESS — At a time of increased competition among Brazilian ports, the growth in exports highlights the efficiency of Paraná’s logistics, integrating the Port of Paranaguá with other modes of transport, such as the state’s road and rail infrastructure, which connects to other states.

“With the investments that have been made in recent years, the Port of Paranaguá facilitates not only the outflow of Paraná’s exports but also Brazilian sales,” said Jorge Callado, the director-president of Ipardes.

For the president of Portos do Paraná, Luiz Fernando Garcia, the numbers reflect the trust of the productive sector in different regions of the country in Paraná’s logistics infrastructure for the outflow of Brazilian agricultural and industrial production.

“Our continuous investments in infrastructure and modernization have been fundamental to consolidate the Port as one of the main logistics hubs in Brazil, facilitating the flow of goods from different states, even in a scenario of growing competition among national ports,” he said.

The chart below compares container exports and imports at the Port of Parangua between January 2021 and July 2024. The data comes from DataLiner.

Paranaguá Container Exports and Imports | Jan 2021 – Jul 2024 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

STATES— According to Secex data, the total cargo throughput, including Paraná-made products, exports through the Port of Paranaguá between January and August totaled 27.3 million tons.

Excluding Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul was the state that most demanded the Paraná structure in the first eight months of 2024. The central-western state, which does not have a seaport, shipped 5.1 million tons through Paraná terminals. Compared to 2019, when Mato Grosso do Sul exported 2.4 million tons through Paranaguá, the growth is 105%.

Despite having a large port complex, São Paulo is the second state, after Paraná, that most used the Port of Paranaguá for the outflow of products. There were 2.5 million tons between January and August of this year, representing an increase of 175% compared to the 917 thousand tons exported in 2019.

Following are Mato Grosso (1.4 million tons), Goiás (1.1 million tons), Santa Catarina (641 thousand tons), Rio Grande do Sul (148 thousand tons), and Minas Gerais (103 thousand tons).

In general, the products most exported by other states through Paranaguá are grains, which totaled 4.4 million tons shipped between January and August. Sugars (2.6 million tons), animal feed (1.7 million tons), and meats (791 thousand tons) were the other most exported products by other federative units via the Port of Paranaguá.

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