The company Terminal Santa Catarina (Tesc), which has leased one of the berths in the Port of São Francisco do Sul, in the North of Santa Catarina State, shall in this second half of the year be commencing expansion work to boost their operation capacity. According to the superintendent of Tesc, José Eduardo Bechara, the forecast is to expand from the current level of 250 thousand containers per year to 450 thousand per year as from 2012. The investment to be made shall lie between R$ 15 million and R$ 20 million.
Tesc handles a significant volume of steel cargo and has a portfolio of important clients including steel company Arcelor Mittal, which has a unit in São Francisco do Sul, but plans to expand the handling of cargo in containers. For this reason, the company has entered into a partnership with Brado Logística to start the transport of this kind of cargo by rail. According to Mr. Bechara, this transport modal would present a saving of up to 20% with the transport of the goods, when compared with road transport.
The rail network already transports loose cargo to São Francisco do Sul. The intention is that of boosting activity through the transport of containers, both for chilled cargo (reefers) and for dry cargo. The focus of the operation shall be on the exporting clients of the region of Lages in the mountainous plateau of Santa Catarina and also the areas around the cities of Ponta Grossa, Cambé and Cascavel, in the state of Paraná; and, within the next three months, the city of Telêmaco Borba, also in Paraná. According to Mr. Bechara, the intention is to attract, first and foremost, the agribusiness companies that need to transport their production of pork and poultry using a refrigerated system.
According to the supervisor at Tesc, there is also significant potential for handling this type of cargo in São Francisco do Sul. The whole complex, which also partly operates under Government administration, has some 1.1 thousand reefer points, with only 20% being used.
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The plan is to start operations in July, with daily frequency. The operations of loading and offloading of containers from the platforms shall take place in a terminal which is already existent in São Francisco do Sul, six kilometers from the port.
The expectation is that, within the space of a year or two, 10% of the total goods handled by Tesc may arrive by rail. In 2010, Tesc handled 115 thousand containers and hopes to hike this figure up to 130 thousand this year.
With the start of operations, São Francisco do Sul shall compete with the port of Paranaguá. Currently, some 80% of chilled cargo that comes to the port is transported by rail.
In 2010, São Francisco do Sul handled some 9.6 million tons, a record volume. The Port shall be undergoing deepening work, planned for completion this second half of the year. With the end of the dredging, São Francisco shall have a draught 13.5 meters deep.
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