The Port of Itaqui is expected to close the first four months of the year with about 6.5 million tons of cargo handled, which represents an increase of 28% over the same period of 2018. Operations at the Maranhão public port are proceeding at a fast pace – with a total of 238 berths, between realized and scheduled until the end of this month. Soybean outflows are expected to close 17% above that of January-April 2018, with almost 2.3 million tons, despite the intense rainy season. It is important to remember that the peak of movement of the harvest in the four months occurred in February, when there was a rise of 1,336% in the operations of this grain, a jump from 33,700 tons in February 2018 to almost 484K in the same month this year. Petroleum derivatives have taken the lead and are expected to increase 70% compared to the same period in 2018. The forecast is to close the next quarter of 2.5 million tons of fuels moved. In fertilizer operations the increase is expected to reach 26%, with a variation of 331K tons in the first four months of 2018 to 417K tons in the accumulated until the end of this month. Among the factors that contribute to this result is the resumption of cargo handling in the fuel depot in 2018. With the delivery and start-up of a new cradle for liquid bulk, also last year, the perspective is of growth in the movement of this type of cargo in Itaqui. Fuels arriving through Itaqui supply not only Maranhão, but also Piauí and the central-northern states of the country. And soybeans produced in MATOPIBA (Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, Bahia and part of Mato Grosso do Sul) go to several countries in Asia, mainly China. Infrastructure, productivity, management focused on results and its privileged location make the Port of Itaqui a strategic undertaking for both the central and northern states of the country to channel their production and receive inputs (fertilizers and fuels) and to feed non-grain producing countries .
Source: Portos e Navios