Bulk carriers will leave the Port of Paranaguá even more loaded after the authorization from the competent authorities to increase the draft, which went from 13.1 meters to 13.3 meters. The permit was recently published by Portos do Paraná in Ordinance No. /2025 of the Maritime Traffic and Permanence Regulation.
With the 20-centimeter increase, the loading capacity for solid bulk – such as soybeans, corn, and meals – increases by up to 1,500 tons per vessel. The measure represents a competitive advantage for operators, who will be able to move more cargo without an increase in costs.
Since the last draft update in December 2024, when it went from 12.80 meters to 13.10 meters, the export corridor of the Port of Paranaguá increased its capacity by more than 5%. This resulted in just over 800 thousand additional tons moved by August of this year.
The measure was approved by the pilotage authority and by the Brazilian Navy, and applies to berths 201, 202, 204, 209, 211, 212, and 213, intended for the movement of cargoes such as sugar, meals, fertilizers, corn, and soybeans in grain.
The rock removal works completed last year and the frequent investments in dredging made by the public company are the main reasons for the successive advances in the draft.
On October 22nd, the bidding for the concession of the access channel to the Paraná ports will be held at the Brazil Stock Exchange (B3). Among the planned improvements is the expansion of the draft to 15.5m in the first five years of the concession and its maintenance until the end of the contract.
The concession also includes a 12.63% discount on the Inframar fee, which vessels pay to access the ports. The winning company will only start receiving the full fee – and will be able to request gradual adjustments – once it complies with the improvement schedule stipulated in the bidding documents and the concession contract.
The winning company will also have to conduct studies and hydrographic surveys, dredging, rock removal, signaling, among other maintenance and modernization actions for the access channel to the Port of Paranaguá.
The planned investment is USD 252.5 million, to be executed in the first five years of the contract, which will have a term of 25 years.
The last update of the Traffic Regulation was made in August, when Portos do Paraná announced the relaxation of undocking maneuvers at the berths that primarily handle export solid vegetable bulk cargoes, such as soybeans in grain, meals, corn, and sugar.
Ordinance No. /2025 came into force on August 1st, covering berths 201, 204, 212, 213, and 214 of the Port of Paranaguá. The measure was made possible after the removal of the tip of the rock known as Pedra da Palangana and the review of the access channel signaling, based on maneuver simulations that guaranteed the safety of vessels when leaving the berth, without tide or current restrictions.
