January is the month when production takes place in the field and the public company Portos do Paraná takes the opportunity to do maintenance and prepare to move production when the harvest period arrives. Public silos and structures in common use at the operating terminals of the Export Corridor of the Port of Paranaguá undergo a review to operate at full steam in 2020.

“This maintenance is carried out in conjunction with the operating companies. We are preparing for the increase in the movement of export grains, already in February and March, when we expect a large volume with the entry of the new soybean crop in the market ”, explains the CEO of Portos do Paraná, Luiz Fernando Garcia.

The preventive maintenance of the vertical silo (Silão), warehouses and hopper is being carried out in cooperation with the Association of Port Operators of the Export Corridor (AOCEP). According to the technical responsible, Andrey José Dahle Bonaldi, in addition to cleaning the fixed structures, all mechanical, civil and electrical overhaul and maintenance are being carried out.

“We are doing a mechanical overhaul on the scales and tippers, preventive maintenance on the flow scales, overhaul of the panels in addition to cleaning and various electrical and civil maintenance services, such as painting, changing the plating, improving access to the tippers and on the hopper roads. as a whole ”, he informs.

According to him, the maintenance of part of the hopper and warehouses should be ready by the 15th. The conveyor belts, dalas and all other structures and equipment that make up the common connection between the terminals and the quay are being revised in partnership with the Paranaguá Export Corridor Terminal Association (ATEXP).

STANDARDS – Atexp’s maintenance and operation manager, Silvio Camargo, explains that they are preventive maintenance on equipment, aimed at meeting safety standards (NR10, 13, 12, 17 and the like) to ensure the flow of the 2020 harvest with better performance along the lines of the common axis.

The six shiploaders that operate in the three berths of the Corridor (212, 213 and 214), are being washed and lubricated, the components that showed defects will be replaced, and, according to the Association, there is a forecast of 2,500 meters of conveyor belts and of some shiploaders.

In relation to electrical and electronic maintenance, preventive actions are being carried out in all substations (there are five in total), in addition to the review of all control units installed in the CCM (Motor control center), and rearrangement of the entire communication system. between commands and line drives.

“The latter, aims to modernize the drive system of some transporters that today are called super-well, aiming to improve the flow of cargo”, adds Camargo. He recalls that, during these maintenance, there is a reinforcement in the hiring of the team. “We doubled the number of employees,” he says.

SCHEDULE – The forecast is for the maintenance of the Export Corridor of the Port of Paranaguá to be completed by the end of the month. Until then, the docking schedule in the complex is being made by stopovers, so that the ships continue to operate. One cradle undergoes maintenance at a time. The 212 is under review from the 2nd to the 15th of January. Following, 214, from 16 to 25; and 213, from January 27 to February 8.

“Every year, we do maintenance at this time. The objective is to give the system more reliability, so that it can face the year that begins with peace of mind ”, says Operations Director, Luiz Teixeira da Silva Junior. In 2019, approximately R $ 1.58 million was invested in the acquisition of new conveyor belts.

In the field: Agriculture explains the moment in the crops of Paraná

According to the head of the Department of Rural Economy (Deral), of the State Secretariat of Agriculture and Supply, Salatiel Turra, there are two factors that make the movement of the grains more peaceful at this time.

“Soy is still in the stage of vegetative development, fruiting and maturation, and the corn of the second harvest 2018/2019 is already almost all commercialized. The first corn crop, which is also in the development phase, does not go so much to trade. It is more for silage and internal consumption ”, he explains.

According to the department’s soybean expert, Marcelo Garrido, this year soybean planting was delayed. “That is, the harvest must also be delayed by 15 or 20 days. In 2018, at this time, it already had 5% of the harvested area. This year, it should start even in February, but the large volume is expected in March ”, he says.

“The attention of corn producers is also focused on the countryside. The movement is of inputs for the planting of the second harvest, at this moment, and not of production ”, completes the corn specialist, Edmar Gervásio.

According to Deral, up to 23.4 million tons of grain can be harvested, a volume that, if achieved, will be 19% above the same period of the previous year when 19.7 million tons were harvested.

Soy plantation occupies 92% of the planted area across the state, with 5.4 million hectares. The forecast for the 19/20 soybean harvest is maintained at 19.8 million tons, a volume 23% higher than in the previous harvest, when 16.1 million tons were harvested.

The first corn crop is fully planted, occupying an area of 335 thousand hectares – 7% less than in the previous harvest. The production estimate is 3.1 million tons, repeating the volume of the past harvest.

Source: Portos do Paraná