Portonave handles 319,000 TEU in Q1, gears up for larger ships

Terminais Portuários de Navegantes (Portonave) is the first operator in Latin America to order an Eco reach stacker

Economic improvement, increasing trade and growing investor confidence has generated renewed interest in supporting infrastructure, especially ports, rail freight and logistics projects, in Latin America.

Portonave SA is spending Rs120M (US$39.33M) to double its yard capacity as it attempts to fend off a challenge to its role as the number one container terminal operator in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina.

Work on a new turning basin to allow the ports of Itajaí and Navegantes in Brazil, at the mouth of the Itajaí River, to handle ships up to 366m long, has been approved by the regional authority. The R$300M (US$94.3M) project will be carried out in two phases, with financial support coming from BNDES.

Flooding again led to the closure of the Itajaí port complex during September

The Brazilian Army looks likely to be called in to complete the reconstruction works at the flood-damaged port of Itajaí