Brazil’s most significant public port infrastructure project, the Moegão, has reached an overall completion of 67% this week. The civil works alone are 76.8% finished. Once operational, the terminal will be able to unload 180 railcars every five hours, connecting 11 port terminals and reducing railway crossings in the city of Paranaguá.
“Moegão is an impressive structure in terms of size and engineering complexity. The project is on schedule, with no delays, and is expected to be delivered by the end of this year,” said Luiz Fernando Garcia, CEO of Portos do Paraná.
At a Port Authority Council (CAP) meeting on August 15, Victor Kengo, Director of Engineering and Maintenance at Portos do Paraná, shared further details: “Besides the civil works, the mechanical stage has advanced 71.7%, and the electrical works are 35.6% complete.”
The Moegão will be able to receive 24 million tonnes of grains and meal per year to serve the terminals of the Eastern Export Corridor (Corex). This figure already anticipates the planned expansion of rail transport toward the Paraná coast via the new Ferroeste line and investments in the Malha Sul network. “These changes will take place soon, and our port cannot become a bottleneck for handling these commodities in the coming decades,” Garcia noted. The project prepares the Port of Paranaguá for the future while also balancing rail with road transport, which will remain a strong alternative for reaching Paraná’s ports.
The Moegão will also play a crucial role in new terminals within the leased areas of the Port of Paranaguá – PARs 14, 15, and 25 – which have already been auctioned and are awaiting the completion of legal procedures for contract signing and possession. Part of the R$1.1 billion investment by lessees will be allocated toward the first phase of the T-shaped pier, while an additional R$1 billion will be provided by the state government. The facility, with four berths, will enable Corex to triple its average ship loading speed from 3,000 tonnes per hour to 8,000 tonnes per hour.
Investments
The Government of Paraná, through Portos do Paraná, is investing more than R$650 million in the Moegão, using both its own funds and financing from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES). In terms of scale, the Moegão’s investment is equivalent to nearly two Guaratuba bridges, another major infrastructure project in the state.
Currently, an average of 550 railcars is unloaded daily at Corex. With the Moegão, unloading will be centralized in one facility, capable of handling up to 900 railcars per day.
By eliminating the need for railcars to enter the terminals, shunting maneuvers currently required for unloading will no longer be necessary, significantly reducing traffic disruptions in the city. The number of crossings with interruptions will fall from 16 to five.
Each terminal is responsible for connecting to the Moegão’s main reception area. Rodrigo Buffara, Cotriguaçu’s manager and representative of the Brazilian Association of Port Terminals (ABTP) on the CAP, stated that Cotriguaçu has already contracted its connection to the Moegão’s central axis. “We aim to maximize rail reception, which in our technical view is the great evolution of the export corridor, boosting rail unloading.
We are fully engaged in this process,” Buffara said.
Delivery of the Moegão is scheduled for December 2025, with operations set to begin in early 2026. “In the coming months, we will finish the precast structures of Towers 5 and 9, complete the foundation of the administrative buildings, and advance the assembly of the mechanical and electrical systems,” explained Caterina Veronese, project coordinator for the Moegão consortium.
