Brazilian ports on track for another record year

The volumes are the sum of foreign, cabotage and inland navigation cargo handled at “organized ports” and “private use terminals” and Brazil’s waterborne trade tonnage and container traffic levels exceed those of any other country in the Western Hemisphere except the US. In 2010, Brazilian cargo volume reached an all-time high of 833.9m tonnes

Major contributors to growth in 2011 to date have been iron ore, containerised cargo, bauxite, fertilisers, and crude and refined petroleum.

Container volumes rose 18.8% to 3.6m teu and volume increases were posted by the ports of Santos (+15.9%), Portonave (+38.8%), Itajai (+37.7%), Suape (+31.1%) and Vitoria (+27%). Among Brazil’s top 10 container ports, only Rio Grande experienced a decline (-2.1%).