More than 780,000 TEUs were handled in the period; exports from the frozen meat, wood, and pulp and paper business segments stood out
TCP, the company that manages the Paranaguá Container Terminal, achieved a historic productivity record for the first half of the year: 37% accumulated growth in container handling, which reached 780,457 TEUs (equivalent to 20 feet in container length). Last year, 569,601 TEUs were handled in the same period.
Container exports through the Terminal rose by 35% to 296,396 TEUs, while imports grew by 19% to 148,902 TEUs. According to TCP’s commercial, logistics and service manager, Giovanni Guidolim, “the increase in productivity at the Terminal shows the market’s confidence in operating through Paranaguá, since we are able to offer personalized services and specialized service to our customers from various segments.”
In the first half of 2024, the sectors that exported the most were meat and frozen products (127,136 TEUs), wood (66,648 TEUs), and paper and cellulose (49,582 TEUs), which recorded growth of 5%, 78% and 106%, respectively. As for imports, the most prominent markets were automotive and vehicle (42,691 TEUs), and chemicals and petrochemicals (21,792 TEUs), up 10% and 49% respectively.
All this cargo volume has also brought a new record for productivity at the Terminal’s quay: 511 ships docked in the first six months, 30% more than the 393 recorded in the same period in 2023.
Carolina Merkle Brown, commercial manager for shipowners, points out that “the record is in line with TCP’s strategy of acting as a port hub, centralizing shipowners’ operations in a safe and efficient manner, thus guaranteeing greater handling capacity and new business opportunities for the Brazilian trade”. With the arrival of two new long-haul lines and two cabotage lines this year, TCP now has 20 maritime services and 24 weekly calls.
TCP concludes investment package
Between 2022 and 2024, TCP invested R$370 million in infrastructure improvements and the purchase of new equipment, a strategy that boosted productivity results in the latest balance sheets. One of the main highlights of the investment package was the expansion of the number of sockets in the reefer yard, an area for storing refrigerated containers, commonly used to transport meat and frozen products.
“The 45% increase in the number of plugs in our reefer area, from 3,624 to 5,268 plugs, positions TCP as having the largest yard for storing refrigerated containers in South America. Our long-term vision is to maintain the Terminal as the main frozen meat export corridor within our zone of influence, which encompasses the states of the southern region, as well as Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo, and extends to Paraguay,” Guidolim says.
With the completion of the expansion of the reefer yard in 2024, TCP achieved a new record in the handling of refrigerated containers in June: 12,204 units, 6% more than the 11,487 recorded in October 2023.
Another highlight is the completion of the modernization work on the gates, the access routes for trucks to the Terminal’s operations yard. With improvements to the scale system, monitoring and security, and automation of the entry and exit process, the flow of access increased by 200%, rising from 50 to 150 appointments per hour. In total, 302,502 containers passed through TCP’s gates in the first half of the year.
The acquisition of 11 new RTGs (rubber-tyred gantry cranes) and 17 new TTs (terminal trucks) expanded the Terminal’s machinery park, which now has 40 RTGs and 69 TTs, ensuring operational capacity to meet the increased demand in the market.
