Container surge and record tonnages for Brazil’s ports in 2010

A record 833.9m tonnes of cargo moved through the Brazilian port system in 2010, according to data reported by the national waterways agency, Agência Nacional de Transportes Aquaviários (ANTAQ). The volumes were up 13.8% from 2009 and beat the previous record of 768m tonnes set in 2008 by 8.5%.


The ANTAQ data includes foreign, cabotage and inland navigation cargo handled by the nation's "organized ports" and private terminals. Brazil's waterborne trade tonnage exceeds that of any other country in the Western Hemisphere except the US.


Double-digit gains from recession-impacted 2009 were posted by the nation's import, export, and domestic ocean, and inland waterway trades. Growth in the cabotage sector is an encouraging sign for the national government's effort to promote the use of the marine highway by domestic shippers as an alternative to rail and highway transport.


The top performer last year was solid bulk sector, which jumped 16% to an all-time high of 506m tonnes in response to strong global demand for iron ore, soybeans, sugar, alumina, managanese and other Brazilian resources and products.


Liquid bulks, much of it imported crude oil and petroleum products, posted a year-to-year increase of 5.3%, reflecting the growing energy appetite of South America's largest economy.


Brazil's general cargo trade prospered in 2010 with a 17.2% increase to 119.5m tonnes. Since 2000, it has been the country's fastest growing cargo sector, with tonnage increases averaging 9.7% annually.


Container traffic enjoyed a strong come back from the global recession. Throughput reached 6.8m teu, up 11.7% from 2009 and just 175,000 teu short of the 2008 record.


The Far East/Indian Ocean was Brazil's leading trading area in 2010, accounting for more than half of its dry bulk cargo, more than 25% of its containerised cargo, and for 44% of total ocean borne trade overall. The Canadian/US East Coast ranked third, behind Northern Europe, among Brazil's container trading regions and fourth, after North Europe and the Black Sea/Mediterranean region, in total trade tonnage.


Santos remained the nation's top container handler, increasing its share of the Brazilian market from 36% in 2009 to 40% in 2010. Others among the top four were Rio Grande, Paranguá and Navagantes (a privately owned and managed port that welcomed its first ship in October 2007) in the Port of Itajai.
(Source:http://www.container-mag.com)