Another five new monthly operational records were achieved by August
On Tuesday morning, August 27, TCP, the company that manages the Paranaguá Container Terminal, reached the milestone of 1 million TEUs (a unit equivalent to a 20-foot container) handled. The achievement came 65 days earlier than in 2023, when the figure was reached on October 31.
The volume is impressive when compared to the progress made towards the 1 million TEU mark in previous years: in 2022, the figure was reached on November 7; and in 2021, the million was reached on November 28.
“Even before we close August, TCP has already handled the equivalent of 80% of the volume operated in the whole of last year. This result follows on from the new productivity records achieved in 2024, the result of our commitment to always meeting our customers’ demand in an agile, safe and efficient manner,” says TCP’s operations planning manager, Felipe de França.
In May, TCP set a new record for total container throughput for a single month: 136,201 TEUs, 7% higher than the best mark of 2023, which was 127,877 TEUs, recorded in December.
The operation of reefer containers, used to store cargo that requires temperature control, also hit a new high in June, with 12,204 units handled, 6% more than the 11,487 in October 2023. Today, TCP is the terminal with the largest capacity for storing reefer containers in South America, with 5,268 sockets available in its yard.
In April 2024, the conclusion of the works to modernize and expand the gates, road access gates to the operations yard, also generated two new productivity records in this segment. One of them was container transitions, which reached 54,984 entries and exits in April, 11% more than the 49,517 recorded in November 2023.
The volume of daily transitions also hit a new high, reaching 2,557 in a single day in June, 9% more than the 2,345 in November of the previous year. “The refurbishment of the gates brought automation and agility to road access to the operations yard. As a result, we saw a 200% increase in the number of entry appointments, which rose from 50 to 150 per hour, thus reducing the waiting time for truck drivers to access the terminal,” explains França.
In February this year, the Terminal also saw 89 ships dock, 7% more than the last record, which occurred in December 2023. The new high comes in the year in which TCP received two new weekly cabotage services and two long-haul services, making a total of 20 maritime services and 24 weekly calls available.
Half-year balance shows record growth driven by agro cargoes
In the first six months of 2024, TCP recorded an accumulated growth of 37% in container handling, with 780,457 TEUs handled in the period. Exports alone rose by 35%, while imports increased by 19%.
TCP’s commercial, logistics and service manager, Giovanni Guidolim, points out that “with investments planned over the long term, TCP reached 2024 with the operational capacity to handle the increase in cargo volumes and the conversion of new clients. In this way, Paranaguá has positioned itself as one of the country’s main export and import corridors”.
Among the main segments with growth in exports are meat and frozen products (124,088 TEUs), wood (65,507 TEUs), and paper and cellulose (47,111 TEUs). In terms of imports, the highlights were the automotive and vehicle sector (42,691 TEUs) and chemicals and petrochemicals (21,792 TEUs).
