Containers shipments rise by 18% in the first month of the year

Container shipments reached 13.7 million tons in January, with 9.3 million tons in long-haul and 4.2 million tons in cabotage (Matheus Tagé/AT Archive)

Containerized cargo reached 13.7 million tons in January this year, an 18.58% increase compared to the first month of 2024. Of this total, 9.3 million tons were handled in long-haul transport, and 4.2 million tons through cabotage (domestic shipping). In TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), the movement for the month reached 1.2 million.

Data from the Aquatic Statistic Report by the National Waterway Transportation Agency (Antaq), released on Tuesday, shows that general cargo grew by 3.86%, representing a movement of 5.2 million tons. Notable cargoes include pulp (+16.12%), salt (+15.27%), and inorganic chemicals (+12.88%).

Decline On the other hand, solid bulk cargoes, which account for 53.3% of all handled cargo, recorded 48.9 million tons in January (-13.1%), impacted by decreases in corn (-34.5%) and soybean (-54.5%) movements; while liquid bulk cargoes totaled 23.9 million tons (-11.9%).

During the month, the total movement in the port sector reached 91.6 million tons of cargo, a decrease of 8.27%.

Long-haul navigation handled 63.6 million tons in the first month of 2025 (-6.34%), cabotage totaled 24.1 million tons (-4.6%), and inland navigation handled 3.7 million tons (-41.8%).

Public ports handled 32.5 million tons in the first month of 2025, representing a decrease of 5.58% compared to the same period last year.

The port with the highest growth among the 20 busiest ports in the country was the Port of Rio de Janeiro, with 1.7 million tons, an increase of 43.46%.

At authorized terminals, there was a 9.68% decrease in movement compared to January of the previous year. The sector handled 59.1 million tons of cargo.

The top performer was the Port of Itapoá (Santa Catarina), which registered a 28.4% growth.