TCP and Portos do Paraná celebrate the movement of 20 million TEUs

On Thursday afternoon (5), TCP, the company that manages the Paranaguá Container Terminal, held a ceremony to celebrate the milestone of 20 million TEUs (a unit equivalent to a 20-foot container) handled throughout its 28-year history.

“The terminal was established in 1998 through an initiative by entrepreneurs from Paraná. Today it is part of one of the world’s largest global container operators, China Merchants Port, which demonstrates its commitment to the company’s development through investments,” said Rafael Stein Santos, TCP’s Institutional and Legal Superintendent.

For the second consecutive year, TCP was ranked the largest port terminal in southern Brazil, according to data from the National Waterway Transportation Agency (ANTAQ). Over the past eight years, the terminal has more than doubled its annual container throughput, rising from 789,000 TEUs in 2017 to 1.6 million TEUs in 2025.

Cargo handling grows 8% in January

TCP handled the equivalent of 145,592 twenty-foot containers (TEUs) in January 2026, the best result ever recorded for the month in the historical series and an 8% increase compared with January 2025.

Combining exports and imports and disregarding container weight, the terminal handled a total of 1.014 million tonnes. Exports reached 680,000 tonnes, a 19% increase compared with the 567,000 tonnes recorded a year earlier, while imports rose 9%, from 307,000 tonnes to 334,000 tonnes.

See below a historical overview of container movements in long-haul trades via the Port of Paranaguá. The chart excludes domestic movements, cabotage and transshipment operations.

Long-Haul Container Movements via the Port of Paranaguá – Jan 2022 to Jan 2026 – TEU

Source: DataLiner (Click here to request a demo)

The meat and frozen cargo segment exported 357,000 tonnes, 45% more than in 2025, when 247,000 tonnes were shipped. This was followed by the wood segment, which remained stable with 105,000 tonnes, and the paper and pulp segment, which exported 88,000 tonnes, 30% more than the 67,000 tonnes recorded in January 2025.

On the import side, the highlights were the chemical and petrochemical sectors (54,000 tonnes), the automotive sector (47,000 tonnes), and the electronics sector (31,000 tonnes).

The number of containers passing through the terminal’s road access gates reached a record 56,880 units, an 11% increase compared with the 51,467 units recorded a year earlier. As the largest concentrator of weekly maritime services among Brazilian terminals, with 23 services including long-haul and cabotage operations, TCP received 84 vessel calls in January.

Since 2024, the operational draft (depth between the waterline and the lowest part of the vessel) of the access channel to the Port of Paranaguá has undergone three revisions, increasing from 12.10 meters to 13.30 meters. The 1.20-meter increase in depth represents an additional capacity of around 960 fully loaded TEUs per vessel.

Source: TCP

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