By PortalPortuario Editorial Staff
This Monday, August 3, TCP, the company that manages the Paranaguá Container Terminal, reached the milestone of 1 million TEUs (standard measure of a 20-foot container) handled throughout the year. The feat was achieved 10 days earlier than in 2025 and reflects the advancement of operations, which grew 4% compared to the previous year.
The one millionth container was handled during the operation of the ship Valor, owned by carrier MSC, which is 300 meters in length (LOA) and 48 meters in width (beam), and operates the route connecting Brazil to Europe.
“This result is a clear indication of TCP’s commitment to offering efficiency and operational capacity to absorb the increase in market demand for cargo handling. Investments in infrastructure and machinery, combined with professional excellence and the dedication of employees, were fundamental to reaching this milestone ahead of schedule. The Terminal continues on this trajectory to close 2026 with the best result in its historical series,” comments Fabio Mattos, commercial manager at TCP.
The 1 million TEU record comes right after the close of July, when TCP handled 147.9 thousand TEUs, the best performance for a single month in 2026 and a volume 5% higher than the 140.9 thousand TEUs handled in July 2025.
One of the highlights of the operations was the increase in the handling of refrigerated containers (reefer), used mainly to transport meat and frozen products, which advanced 10% in the comparison between January and July, going from 80.3 thousand in 2025 to 88.4 thousand in 2026.
By the end of July, TCP recorded the passage of 379 thousand containers through road access routes (gate) and 62 thousand containers by rail, with the operation of 774 trains. The Paranaguá Container Terminal is the only one in Southern Brazil to have a direct connection between a railway branch and the operations yard.
At the wharf, the Terminal received the berthing of 597 ships. TCP is the largest concentrator of maritime services among the country’s port terminals, with 22 regular weekly services, including cabotage and deep-sea services, connecting Paranaguá to the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Trade balance is driven by meat and the automotive segment
In the seven months of 2026, TCP shipped 4.913 million tons of cargo, a performance 10% above the 4.465 million recorded in the same period of the previous year.
The result was driven by meat and frozen product exports, which surged from 2.047 million tons to 2.344 million tons, a volume driven by the increase in shipments of chicken and pork meat.
“TCP holds a strategic advantage for meat and frozen product exporters, who need operational capacity for cargo storage and a high volume of calls to ship their products and meet the strict deadlines of importing markets. Therefore, the Terminal continues to invest in expanding its infrastructure for refrigerated container storage, which should go from 5,280 plugs to 5,500 still in 2026,” highlights Mattos.
The paper and pulp segment also advanced 9% and reached 623 thousand tons this year, while in 2025 the volume was 569 thousand tons.
In imports, the automotive segment led, with the heating up of the electric vehicle market and the disembarkation of parts and components, which totaled 346 thousand tons in 2026, a volume 8% above the 319 thousand tons of the previous year.
