Port of Paranaguá operations stalled by January rains

The volume of rain recorded in January this year in Paranaguá was 356.4% higher than in the same month of 2020. The water, crucial to the crops during the year, ended up paralyzing part of the operations port facilities.

According to a survey by Portos do Paraná, the stoppages amounted to 12.6 days (more than 302 hours) in the month which is 82% longer than the 6.9 days (just over 165 hours) recorded in January last year. The numbers affect the shipment of bulk goods such as soy, corn, and soybean meal.

“In ports around the world, it is not possible to operate grains in wet weather. The nature of the cargo won’t permit it; at any sign of rain, the ships at berth completely stop operations. The holds will only open again when the ship’s captain is sure that the cargo will not be wet because he does not run the risk of damaging it”, explains the operations director of the public company, Luiz Teixeira da Silva Junior.

It is not just the shipment of solid bulk that is impacted by rain; some imported bulk shipments were also paralyzed. In the case of fertilizers, for example, only shipments of urea can be unloaded during a drizzle.

The operations that continue despite the rain are those involving containers, vehicles, general cargo (except for paper and bags), salt, and bulk liquids (carried out in closed pipes and tanks).

According to André Maragliano, director of ATEXP (the association of terminals of the Paranaguá export corridor), the rain impacts but impacts are not significant in this off-season moment, when soybean shipment is not yet intense. “We took advantage of this period to finish corrective and preventive maintenance so that our equipment is fully functional this year. Soy shipments are expected to start in the second week of February; during the rest of the year, the rain does not impact us as much. This is because the rain statistics in Paranaguá are no different from the rain in the other ports close by, such as São Francisco do Sul and Santos”, adds the operator.

VOLUME – According to SIMEPAR (Paraná’s technology and environmental monitoring system), in January of this year, 563 mm of rain was recorded in Paranaguá. In the 31 days of January 2020, only 123 mm of rain was recorded.

Export Corridor shutdowns due to rain in 2020:

January – 6.9 days

February – 12 days

March – 4.3 days

April – 3.1 days

May – 2.7 days

June – 11.7 days

July – 6.1 days

August – 8 days

September – 6.7 days

October – 9.7 days

November – 6.8 days

December – 6.1 days

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