São Francisco do Sul, Santa Catarina’s largest port in terms of cargo movement, reduced the waiting time for vessels unloading fertilizers by 70% this year. This result was achieved thanks to the enactment of an internal rule by the Port Board in April, at the request of Governor Jorginho Mello, who granted berthing priority to those ships at one of the terminal’s docks.
Thus, according to the most recent data from the National Water Transport Agency (Antaq), the waiting time, which reached 28 days in March, was reduced to eight in June.
With this change, the port terminal in the north of Santa Catarina is now faster than the neighboring Port of Paranaguá, which took 12 days to unload a fertilizer vessel in June. In August, fertilizer unloading at the terminal reached 1.8 million tons, accounting for 7% of the country’s total imports.
The product, which is used to improve agricultural productivity and quality, is mainly supplied by Russia, Canada and China, in addition to the United States and Morocco. The rest of the fertilizers come from Middle Eastern countries such as Israel, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
According to Cleverton Vieira, president of the Port of São Francisco do Sul, the reduction of waiting times for ships guarantees lower costs throughout the fertilizer logistics chain. “This measure has a positive impact on the agribusiness of Santa Catarina and Brazil, since our port is one of the main entry points for fertilizers into the country,” he said.
Thanks to its important collaboration in the import of fertilizers, the Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives of Santa Catarina (Fecoagro) paid tribute to the Port of São Francisco during a formal session in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Santa Catarina, in which the 50th anniversary of the organization was celebrated. President Vieira received a plaque in recognition of the important services provided to Fecoagro and the development of agribusiness and agricultural cooperatives in Santa Catarina.
