Inaugurated almost 80 years ago, the Port of Paranaguá is one of the main destinations for grain produced in the country. Today, 70% of everything handled in the port complex is related to agribusiness. And it was exactly this sector that helped to reduce the average score attributed by users to the port, according to data from the Ilos Institute. On average, the agribusiness sector scored 6,54 for Paranaguá. Next to Salvador, the port suffered the worst
placement among 12 other ports.
The Administration of the Ports of Paranaguá and Antonina does not agree with the ranking and says that it presents the best performance indicators in the area. “We have a program called Porto no Campo, in which we visit the producing regions every 60 days to listen to the difficulties and analyze what measures we can take”, says the director-president of Appa, Luiz Henrique Dividino, questioning the Ilos research.
In addition, he claims that the port has not recorded queues of trucks on the highways for three years and that it has reduced the waiting time for ships to berth in bulk exports from 60 to 10 days”, says the executive.
According to Dividino, on imports, the amounts paid in demurrage – a fine applied by the shipowner to the customer for the delay in returning the container – fell by 42%.
He also states that, since 2011, the administration has been investing more than BRL 520 million, with its own resources, in the renovation and recovery of berths to deepen the pier, dredging and acquisition of equipment. “It is the biggest investment by a port authority with its own resources.”
Dividino points out that, at the moment, Paranaguá awaits the release of new projects that should be implemented by the concession program of the Secretariat of Ports – which is blocked without approval from the Federal Audit Court.
Source: The State of S. Paulo
By: Renee Pereira
