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Southern Brazil News

24 Feb 2024

Brazil's Paranagua Port Resumes Operations After Fire

Source: Port of Paranagua

An important export terminal for agricultural commodities at the Paranagua port in southern Brazil resumed operations on Saturday after three of its berths were temporarily halted due to a fire earlier this week.The local port authority said in a statement that operations at Paranagua's Export Corridor were resumed at 1 p.m. local time (1600 GMT), with berths 212 and 213 performing export operations and berth 214 an import operation.Maintenance was being carried out on the affected equipment…

01 Sep 2023

ClassNK Opens Survey Office in Brazil

© Lucia / Adobe Stock

Japanese classification society ClassNK has opened a new exclusive survey office in Paranagua, Brazil with operations beginning September 1, 2023.The move comes amid increasing number of surveys and audits in the southern Brazil port and the neighboring region as the country continues recent expansion of its port facilities, ClassNK said.ClassNK said it aims to provide more streamlined service in Paranagua, one of Brazil's premier port cities.

13 Apr 2023

Bunge Port Deal in Southern Brazil Ends, Opening Door to Rivals

© jorgealberto / Adobe Stock

The end of a contract between a Bunge agent and a state-run port company in southern Brazil could make room for rivals interested in the public grains terminal, documents and court filings showed.The contract between Bunge port agent Litoral and the Sao Francisco do Sul port authority ended on April 11 and does not foresee an extension.Bunge declined to comment. Litoral did not reply to a request for comment.The port authority did not answer questions about whether it is preparing…

30 Nov 2022

Landslides Block Access to Brazil's Paranagua Port

Paranagua port - ©CLAITON LUIS MORAES/Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 4.0

Brazil's Paranagua port authority said on Tuesday that landslides caused by heavy rainfall blocked road and rail access to the port, the second busiest for grain exports in the country. In a statement, the authority said other port operations are normal as ships continue to unload and load products stored at the port's warehouses. Landslides have totally blocked the main access road to Parana's ports of Paranagua and Antonina, disrupting the flow of trucks headed to the coast, according to the statement.

27 Oct 2021

Mighty River to Muddy Trickle: South America's Parana Rings Climate Alarm

Illustration only - Aerial shot over Parana River in Front of Rosario City - Credit: Wirestock/AdobeStock

Gustavo Alcides Diaz, an Argentine fisherman and hunter from a river island community, is at home on the water. The Parana River once lapped the banks near his wooden stilt home that he could reach by boat. Fish gave him food and income. He purified river water to drink.Now the 40-year-old looks out on a trickle of muddy water.The Parana, South America's second-largest river behind only the Amazon, has retreated this year to its lowest level since its record low in 1944, hit by cyclical droughts and dwindling rainfall upriver in Brazil.

05 May 2021

Low Water Levels Hamper Shipping on the Parana River

© Wirestock / Adobe Stock

Argentina's Parana River, the grains superhighway that takes soy and corn from the Pampas farm belt to the world, has gotten so shallow that it has started "trimming" international shipments just as the country's export season gets underway.The level of the Parana at the export hub of Rosario, home to some of the biggest soy crushing plants in the world, was a scant 0.90 meters on Wednesday, according to the Coast Guard.Between 1996 and 2020 the median depth of the river at Rosario in April was a much deeper 3.58 meters.

20 Apr 2020

Brazil Agrees to Raise Level of the Parana River

© Yio / Adobe Stock

Brazil has agreed to release water at the giant Itaipu hydroelectric dam to raise low water levels in the Parana River, a key thoroughfare for grains shipments, Argentina's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.Decade-low water levels on the Parana are forcing Argentine exporters to load less soy and other grains on ships bound largely for China, adding a new problem to a sector already beset by bottlenecks due to the coronavirus pandemic.The agreement with Brazil will allow for an additional 1,400 cubic meters of water flow to be added to the river, the ministry said in a statement.

06 Jul 2017

APM Terminals Wins South America Calls on New Asian Service

Direct services between Asia and the East Coast of South America will begin port calls at APM Terminals Buenos Aires, Argentina, and APM Terminals Itajaí, Brazil. The joint service deployed by Hapag-Lloyd, NYK, ZIM, Hyundai and Hamburg Sud prefers their vessels call APM Terminals' facilities in Itajai (Brazil) and T4 in Buenos Aires (Argentina). The weekly Asian service, operated jointly with 13 vessels from Hapag-Lloyd, NYK, Zim, Hamburg Süd and Hyundai, will call the Asian ports of Kelang, Singapore, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Shekou and Busan. The service will begin August 25th with the arrival of the first vessel into Terminal 4 Buenos Aires.

18 Jan 2017

CMA CGM Strengthens Asia-East Coast South America Links

French container shipping major CMA CGM has upgraded its SEAS1 and SEAS2 services, now providing two departures per week between Asia and the East Coast of South America. The group will thus provide two departures per week between Asia and the East Coast of South America, one of the best offers on the market. They will offer optimum port coverage across Asia (Northern, Central and Southern Chinan and South Korea and South East Asia) and South America (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay). From South America, CMA CGM will provide very competitive transit times, especially for the export of refrigerated goods from Brazil and Argentina, to Hong Kong, China and South Korea.

05 Nov 2015

Brazil Port Jam Benefits U.S. Soybean Stakeholders

The congestion at Brazilian grain terminals is worsening and U.S. soybean suppliers may have reason to celebrate. U.S. soybean sales to date in the new marketing year have been rather sluggish, lagging the previous two years by 20 percent. At the same time, vessels are backing up at Brazilian ports amidst the height of their corn export season. Average wait times outside Paranagua, which ships up to 20 percent of Brazil's exportable soybeans, reached 43 days last month. Elsewhere in Brazil, queues have also been mounting. Of the 10 largest Brazilian grain ports by volume, ships waited on average twice as long to load and sail during October 2015 than they did in October 2014.

16 Mar 2015

Shortage in Supramax

As tonnage in the East Coast South America (ECSA) region continued to outnumber fresh grain requirements, Supramax front-haul freight rates fell this week, reports Platts, quoting shipping sources. The rate for carrying a 50,000 mt grain stem from ECSA to the Far East continued at that level until it fell to $9,500/d plus $95,000 ballast bonus Tuesday. It was $10,000/d plus $100,000 ballast bonus February 27. That fall went against shipbroker and owner expectations in late February that the start of the South Atlantic grain export season in March would lead to a gradual increase in rates. Though grain exports from Argentina and southern Brazil do not normally peak before late April to early May…

04 Mar 2015

Access to Brazil's Itajai Port to Open as Truck Protest Ends

Protesters have agreed to open access to Brazil's main poultry exporting port of Itajai in Santa Catarina state, the port said on Wednesday, ending a lingering flashpoint after a two-week truck drivers' protest. A union of autonomous truck drivers agreed to the port's proposal to raise payments for transporters inside the port's grounds, the port said in a statement. The protests demanding lower diesel fuel prices and higher payments to cover freight costs were concentrated in southern Brazil in its final days, blocking meat exports and leaving some grocery stores with bare shelves. Warehouses outside Itajai port were full of containers carrying refrigerated meat for companies like BRF SA…

06 Jan 2015

Fisherman's Protest in Brazil Stalls Container Port

Photo courtesy of Port of Itajai

A protest by fishermen at the container shipping port of Itajai in southern Brazil has prevented several ships from entering or leaving, the local port authority said on Tuesday. Fishermen started protesting government measures to stop fishing of endangered species on Monday, saying many of the species have commercially viable populations. Itajai does not ship bulk grains but it is an important commercial center for frozen meat. Brazil is the world's No. 1 beef exporter. In addition to three stalled container ships…

29 May 2014

Truckers Protest at Brazil's Paranagua Port

Photo: APPA

Hundreds of truck drivers blocked traffic arriving at southern Brazil's Paranagua port on Thursday to protest a policy that fines them for parking outside designated areas. Shipment of commodities like corn and soybeans was not affected, the port authority said in a statement, though protesters burning tires and marching slowed traffic arriving at the docks for a few hours. To smooth out the arrival and loading of grains from Brazil's interior, Paranagua fines drivers parked outside of designated lots.

25 Apr 2014

Aliança Christens New Containership

Photo courtesy of Hamburg Süd  Group

Yesterday, Hamburg Süd subsidiary Aliança christened its containership Pedro Álvares Cabral during a ceremony held for customers at the port of Itapoá. The ship’s Sponsor is Elisabeth von Krüger de Freitas, the wife of Humberto Ramos de Freitas, Executive Officer for Logistics and Mineral Exploration of Vale S.A., one of the most important clients of Aliança Bulk. Dr. Arnt Vespermann, Member of the Executive Board of Hamburg Süd and Julian Thomas, General Manager Region South America East Coast of Hamburg Süd and Aliança, also participated in the ceremonies.

13 Jan 2013

Wilson Sons Expand Brazil Towboat Operational Centre

Company vessels in the Brazilian ports of Paranaguá & Vitória will be tracked to enhance security and improve planning. In the beginning of 2013, the company will begin tracking its vessels serving the ports of Paranaguá (Southern Brazil) and Vitória (Southeastern Brazil). After the expansion, 23 tugs will be managed from the Centre. Following the investment of approximately US$ 750,000, the Towage Operational Centre remotely tracks tugboats and generates indicators on the use of vessels, thus helping to develop strategies and reduce risk of accidents. The pilot project of the Towage Operational Centre began in 2010 with research on the new technology.

27 Aug 2012

World's Largest Gantry Crane Arrives in Brazil

World's Largest Gantry Crane: Photo credit Konecranes

Konecranes' Goliath gantry crane for Engevix Construções Oceânicas (‘Ecovix’) arrives at Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. With a combination lifting capacity of 2,000 tons and rail span of 210 meters, the crane is the biggest Goliath gantry crane in the world. The crane will be used initially to assemble eight hulls of Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) ships that will be used for offshore oil production projects. Construction of the crane components began in October 2011, in Finland and South Korea.

02 Aug 2000

Brazil Slaps Petrobras With Record Fine For Oil Spill

Brazil's government slapped state oil giant Petrobras with a record fine of nearly $100 million on Aug 1 for causing the country's worst oil spill in 25 years in a disastrous July pipeline rupture. Environmental agency Ibama said the fine - the highest-ever imposed for damage to the ecosystem - was justified due to Petrobras' inability prevent a series of oil spills this year, considered a repeated offense by officials. Petrobras has caused four spills since January. The latest government sanctions against Petrobras came after a broken pipeline oozed a million gallons of crude down the Iguacu River in southern Brazil, contaminating ecological reserves on the banks of the river.

09 May 2006

Large Capacity Power Barge for Brazilian Rivers

Trevisa Investimentos of Porto Alegre Brazil have been operating the area’s largest inland river bulk carrier, the N/M Germano Beker , since the vessel’s delivery in December 2005. Built in Porto Alegre by the Navegação Aliança the vessel is 110x16.2 meters with a molded depth of 5.25 meters. To maintain the shallow draft, three electronically controlled Cummins QSK19-M engines each rated for 660 hp at 1800 RPM provide propulsion for the vessel. The engines turn four-blade 1700 by 1292 mm propellers through ZF W1900(BW191-2) gears with 4.967:1 ratios. Design speed for the vessel is nine knots. Tankage is provided for 38 m3 of fuel and 22 m3 of water. The vessel accommodates a crew of seven and carries 5400 tons of bulk cargo.