Almost reaching the end of the year, the Container Terminal (Tecon) Rio Grande should confirm a result in 2023 similar to what occurred before the coronavirus pandemic. In the first ten months of this year, the complex has already worked with around 477 thousand TEUS (unit equivalent to a 20-foot container), an increase of 18% compared to the same period in 2022, when it registered 405 thousand TEUs.
In 2022, the terminal handled around 544 thousand TEUs, the worst mark since 2004, when the terminal operated around 612 thousand TEUs. Now the CEO of Tecon Rio Grande, Paulo Bertinettihopes that it will be possible to achieve a performance similar to that of 2019, in which the structure worked with approximately 692 thousand TEUs.
The leader considers that last year is one to “be forgotten”. In addition to the impacts of the difficulties in the world economy, the Rio Grande do Sul terminal suffered strong competition from ports in Santa Catarina. Despite this, Bertinetti argues that Rio Grande has the potential to be the Conesul cargo concentrating port. “We are not a port of the moment, we are a port with history”, emphasizes the executive.
He highlights that the Rio-Grandino complex has a good draft, few environmental restrictions and area for expansion. Bertinetti also suggests that, to increase competitiveness, a system be implemented that enables permanent dredging of the portavoiding the need for bureaucratic and time-consuming procedures to contract this type of service.
Currently, two vessels with a capacity of 170 TEUs connect the complexes in the Metropolitan region and the Southern Half. increase use of the waterway, Bertinetti adds that the possibility of using barges with greater capacity, for at least 250 TEUs, is being evaluated. The executive argues that the change would make it possible to reduce the logistical cost of cargo transportation.