Port access infrastructure across Brazil limits efficiency gains from technology

Flávia Takafashi, alongside Gabriela Costa, Cynthia Ruas and Danielle Bernardes, discussed the logistics chain (Samuel Andrade/Special for A Tribuna)

Combining investments in infrastructure, innovation, efficiency and, above all, planning for logistics, with a particular focus on port access, is more important than the technology used at port terminals. This is the view of Gabriela Costa, Executive Director of the Associação de Terminais Portuários Privados (ATP).

“Terminals are investing heavily in innovation, sustainability and modernization. A large proportion are electrified, and many are automated, but access infrastructure remains extremely deficient. There is little point in having a state-of-the-art terminal if we cannot reach it by road, rail or waterway”, she stated.

The ATP director was one of the participants in the Smart Logistics Chain panel, held as part of the 2nd Mulheres a Bordo 2026 Meeting on Thursday (15) at the auditorium of the Agência Nacional de Transportes Terrestres (ANTT), in Brasília. The panel was moderated by Flávia Takafashi, leader of the Mulheres a Bordo project.

Gabriela noted that the problem affects all regions of Brazil. “In the southern region of the country, we have significant problems on the BR-101 highway in Santa Catarina, which provides access to the state’s main ports — Itapoá, Navegantes and Itajaí. At Porto do Açu, in Rio de Janeiro, there is a stretch connecting the highway to the port that is deplorable. And if we compare Porto do Açu today with public ports, it ranks second in cargo throughput. The same problem is evident in the northern region when we look at Miritituba (PA), which has 11 private terminals and absolutely appalling access infrastructure. The road is now included in the Via Brasil concession on the BR-163 highway, but the schedule remains significantly behind”, she explained.

Corridors

Cynthia Ruas, ANTT’s Superintendent of Sustainability, People and Innovation, explained that three sustainable multimodal logistics corridors are being developed. The idea is to select specific highway sections with logistics bottlenecks, including those involving environmental issues, that need to provide access to a port.

According to the superintendent, one of them — the third — involves the BR-163 highway in Pará. “When we revised the contract, we included a specific clause requiring this corridor to be established along the BR-163, reaching Porto de Miritituba. It is explicitly stated in the contract. On November 12, we will hold the competitive bidding procedure to determine who will ultimately take over the BR-163 road asset. Regardless of who takes over, the obligation is already in place.”

The first corridor connects Curitiba to Porto de Paranaguá and is operated by EPR Litoral Pioneiro, a highway concessionaire belonging to Grupo EPR that operates in Paraná. “Another corridor is under development. It has already been approved at the superintendent level, but will now be submitted for approval by ANTT’s collegiate board. This is the Motiva Rio SP corridor, which covers a section of the BR-116 highway and is intended to establish cooperation with Porto de Itaguaí (RJ)”, she added.

Multimodality

Danielle Bernardes, Executive Government Affairs Manager at the Confederação Nacional do Transporte (CNT), believes the Federal Government needs to place greater emphasis on multimodality.

“We have few multimodal transport operators. This is a regulatory and legal challenge. Is there sufficient legal certainty to operate? Did the Tax Reform take incentives into account? Ultimately, there are more challenges than concrete solutions,” she said. “We need to know where our cargo is”, she added.