Porto Itapoá ends the first five months of 2020 with an increase in movements

Terminal completed 9 years on June 16, maintaining operational performance and being a vector of economic growth for the region.
Porto Itapoá has a double reason for celebration: the 9th anniversary of operation, completed this Tuesday 16 June, and the result of the balance sheet for the first five months of 2020. The Terminal registered an increase of 11.3% in the volume of containers handled in relation to the same period in 2019. The highlight is the import and transhipment operations which grew by 7.4% and 53.6% respectively. Exports, which had stable numbers in relation to 2019, should maintain this trend, with a possibility of growth for specific segments, such as reefer and the timber sector, which may gain strength due to the favorable exchange rate.
It is worth noting that the overcoming the 2019 numbers is a major challenge for Porto Itapoá, as well as for the entire Brazilian port sector, whether due to the reconfiguration of the market due to the pandemic, or due to the volatility of international markets, notably linked to the impact of the dollar on pricing of commercial transactions. In 2019 Porto Itapoá achieved a special highlight, reaching the level of the third largest container terminal in Brazil and the largest in the State of Santa Catarina. The goal is to overcome the number of movements now in 2020, aiming to maintain this placement. However, the main objective is to contribute as much as possible to the resumption of industrial production and the economy as a whole. Along this line, an important factor recently announced tends to increase the Terminal’s added value with its customers.
On May 30, the Brazilian Navy ratified the new operational parameters for mooring ships at Porto Itapoá which, from now on, you can receive vessels up to 350 meters in length. Porto Itapoá, located in Babitonga Bay, was already one of the ports capable of operating the large ships that operated off the Brazilian coast. With this formalization on the part of the Brazilian Navy, the expectation is that the international container carrier market starts sending these vessels to Brazil.
Porto Itapoá is notable for receiving the largest ships in operation in the world
in June 2011, when Porto Itapoá started operations, the largest ships arriving in Brazil were the Super-Post-Panamax, approximately 300 meters long. Since then, these vessels have contemplated Itapoá within their priority scales and, year after year, the dimensions of the ships allowed to operate in the country have been increasing. Ships with dimensions over 330 meters have already been a reality in Porto Itapoá since 2017 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuXYRZaziHo).
Confirming this mark won by the Terminal and appearing on the horizon the tendency for vessels up to 350 meters to start operating in the country, the Brazilian Navy authorization for maneuvering ships of these dimensions for the operation in Porto Itapoá was very well received. An important factor for the success of the Terminal in these few years of operation is certainly related to its strategic location in Babitonga Bay, considered one of the major port assets in the country and one of the estuaries that least demands public investments to maintain its navigable conditions.
Babitonga Bay has a natural depth that, in some areas of the channel, is over 21 meters. Currently, a project to adapt the access channel is underway, which foresees the deepening from 14 to 16 meters and the attenuation of the degree of the referred curve, allowing access to the Bay in a more agile and safe way. Due to the characteristics provided by Babitonga Bay, added to the company’s infrastructure, Porto Itapoá continues to be one of the ports present in the programming of the main shipowners and their big vessels.