The ports of Paraná close the first quarter with two new records. In the last month, together, the Paranaguá and Antonina terminals recorded the best March in history in terms of volume. There were 5,622,705 tons of cargo, of import and export. The volume is 7% higher than that registered in the same month of 2020 (5,235,158 tons).

A new milestone was also consolidated in the number of trucks that passed through the Sorting Yard: 59,611 vehicles, in 31 days.

“With the prospects created, in this first quarter, we can say that 2021 will again be a very significant year for agribusiness, which handles almost 80% of our operations in the ports of Paraná,” ​​says the CEO of the public company Portos do Paraná , Luiz Fernando Garcia.

According to Garcia, in this second year of the pandemic, like the other Brazilian ports, the ports of Paranaguá and Antonina learned to deal with Covid-19, in order to be able to continue with operations.

“We have structured ourselves, throughout the past year, to continue operating safely with workers, serving the entire logistics chain, in all of our segments”, comments Garcia.

According to him, the delay in the arrival of soy from the field to the port, in these first months of 2021, due to climatic issues, should not affect the movement throughout the year. “Our matrix has only shifted in time. We are used to operating with these peaks, ”he says. The displacement may cause a meeting of the flow of soybeans with the arrival of the off-season of corn.

“However, our highly specialized terminals have the operational conditions to meet this demand, without conflicts, especially since all the arrival of trucks and wagons is very efficiently coordinated by the Port Authority. The prospects are very good ”, he points out.

NUMBERS – Of the total of 5,622,705 tonnes handled in the 31 days of March, 68.4% are export cargo – 3,847,174 tonnes. The volume is 3% higher than the 3,738,289 tons registered in the month’s export, in 2020.

The other 31.6% came from imports, which totaled 1,775,531 tons in the month. The increase registered in relation to the volume of cargo imported in March 2020 – with 1,496,869 tons – is 18.6%.

QUARTER – In the first three months of the year, the ports of Paranaguá and Antonina handled 12,869,820 tons of cargo, in both directions of trade. Compared with the 12,545,180 tonnes registered in the same period last year, the increase registered in the quarter is 3%.

MODES – In March, 59,611 trucks passed through the Sorting Yard, before unloading the bulk cargo for export through the Port of Paranaguá. The new record surpasses by 1,112 vehicles the largest movement ever recorded, which was April 2020, with 58,499 trucks passing through the site.

“We recorded record movement of trucks in the public sorting yard, which has a capacity for about 900 trucks, simultaneously parked. We did this, without queues and with a lot of organization and synchronization with the terminals. This demonstrates efficiency, adding to a new vigorous crop, price and exchange rate for commodities ”, comments Luiz Fernando Garcia.

FERROVIA – The railway discharge at the Port of Paranaguá is also higher this year. In the last month of March, 19,235 wagons unloaded 1,055,085 tons of sugar, cargo in containers, cellulose, soybean meal, corn, soybeans, vegetable oil and biodiesel. The volume is 53.8% higher than that registered in the same month, in 2020.

In the quarter, there were 36,991 wagons unloading 1,977,247 tons of products – 12.1% more than in 2020, in the period, when 33,840 wagons unloaded 1,762,564 tons of cargo.

Main increases are between solid bulk and general cargo
Both in the month and in the quarter, the highlights among the products that grew the most in the comparison between 2020 and 2021, are sugar exports (which grew 63% in the month and 98% in the accumulated from January to March) and the general cargo (which grew 12% in the month and 1% in the quarter).

In imports, the main increases were in fertilizers (with an increase of 10% in the month and 8% in the accumulated) and also the general cargo (with an increase of 59% in the month and 32% in the total of the quarter).

Considering imports and exports, the number of containers handled by the Port of Paranaguá also increased, both in the month and in the quarter.

In March, this year, 44,579 containers were handled – 13.7% more than the 39,202 units registered in the month, last year. In the quarter, the increase was 4% comparing the 220,097 TEUs (specific units, equivalent to 20-foot containers) handled this year, with the 211,563 TEUs registered from January to March last year.

ANTONINA – Highs were also registered in imports and exports – of the month and in the accumulated of the quarter – by the Port of Antonina. In the 31 days of March this year, there were 51,229 tons, almost 28% more than the 40,048 tons in the region.

In the accumulated from January to March, 159,305 tons were handled in 2021 – 32% more than the 120,342 tons registered in the same period, last year.

Check HERE the details of the statistics for the period.

Source: Portos do Paraná