Larger vessels meet Asian market demand

The first of 13 vessels on the service vessel, the ‘MSC Arbatax’, is the largest cargo vessel in terms of capacity that has ever moored at Port of Itajaí.

According to Portonave’s administrative officer, Osmari de Castilho Ribas, the new service enables the facility to offer customers additional destinations that includes South Africa, Singapore and China.

Asian countries are among Brazil’s major trading partners. According to the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC); sales to China grew 8.5% in the first half of 2013, making the country the largest individual purchaser of Brazilian goods in that period.  The main exports are frozen meat and timber, with imports including ceramic and sundry goods.