Port of Paranaguá predicts 11% increase in grain exports in 1st quarter

With a new terminal connected to the west of the pier, the operators of the Port of Paranaguá expect to handle around 6 million tons of solid export bulk in the first quarter of 2021. Together, the expected volumes of soy, soybean meal, corn, and sugar represent an increase of 11% compared to what was exported in the same three months of 2020 – 5.47 million tons.

“To meet this demand, we will need the Export Corridor working 100%. The objective is to have maximum productivity in the three berths east of the pier and still have berth 201, in the west corridor, and berth 204 ”, highlights the director of operations for Portos do Paraná, Luiz Teixeira da Silva Júnior.

According to him, in 2020, berths 201 and 204 had a significant increase in the draft, reaching 12.5 meters. In addition, a new terminal starts operating in the West Export Corridor of the Port of Paranaguá in the first months of 2021.

“This will give us the possibility to bring even more cargo to Paranaguá. With this expanded capacity, which we did not have in previous years, and this structure, we have all the conditions to serve our users and set new export records”, predicts Teixeira.

New terminal – The new terminal that will connect in 2021 to start operating west of the pier, by berth 201, is Cavalca Administração Portuária (CAP). “Our expectation is to start operating in the first months of the year. The entire structure is ready and we have already received customs clearance, now in the last week of December”, says the terminal’s general manager, Eulisses Zagonel Machado.

According to Machado, the company will work mainly with soybeans – in grain and meal – originated in the western region of Paraná and the state of Mato Grosso. “Our expectation is to load 60 to 65 thousand tons per month”, he completes.

The terminal has a flat-bottom warehouse for 50 thousand tons of cargo and is connected by conveyor belts to the cradle equipment  – the two ship loaders – which have the capacity to move around two thousand tons per hour, each.

“The simultaneous operation of two export corridors at the Port of Paranaguá, will allow more agility in loading, potentially reducing the waiting time for ships”, says the manager of CAP. Cavalca expects to export 180,000 tons of soybeans in the first quarter of 2021.

In the same Berth 201, interconnected in the West Corridor, is the Bunge terminal. The expectation of the company is to export 415,000 tons of grain  (235,000 of soybean meal and 180,000 of soybeans) in the first three months of this new year. The expected volume is 87% higher than the consolidated volume from January to March 2020, in the Berth: 221,532 tons of soybeans and meal

Via Berth 204, Pasa expects to export 770,000 tons of cargo in the same period, including 420,000 tons of soy (121% more than the 189,946 tons exported from January to March 2020, in grain and meal) and 350,000 tons of bulk sugar (17% more than the 298,490 tons exported in the first quarter in 2020).

Eastern Corridor – Together, the nine private terminals and the two interconnected public terminals in the East Export Corridor, at the Port of Paranaguá, expect to handle 4,717,000 tons of soy, corn, and soybean meal in the first quarter of 2021. This volume represents an average movement of 1,572,333 tons per month.

The expected volume is almost the same as that consolidated in the export of the complex in 2020 (4,721,471 tons). Of soybeans, almost 3.1 million tons are expected. The volume is slightly lower than that exported in the first three months of 2020: 3,348,522 tons.

From soybean meal, the expectation of the terminals is to export 1,144,000 tons in the first quarter of 2021. The volume will be 6.4% higher than the 1,075,147 tons consolidated in the same period this year.

The product that should show a significant increase is corn. The forecast is to move 475,500 tons of grain from January to March next year. In 2020, 297,802 tons of the product were exported through the Eastern Corridor – 37% less than the expected volume.

See forecast by terminal for the Eastern Corridor of the Port of Paranaguá:

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