Brazil’s Port of Paranaguá is preparing to link its first private bulk terminal to the R$650m ($130m) Moegão rail unloading complex, as construction reaches 96% completion and commissioning begins. Splash 247 reported that Portos do Paraná had scheduled the installation of an overhead conveyor gallery to connect the facility with the ALTP terminal, which is operated by a consortium of Louis Dreyfus Company and Amaggi.
The installation is planned for the weekend following the report’s publication on 10 October. It will establish the first of 11 connections between Moegão and private terminals in Paranaguá’s eastern export corridor. The system is intended to unload agricultural bulk commodities from trains and move the cargo through enclosed conveyors to the individual terminals handling exports.
Each terminal link must be able to handle flows of up to 2,000 tonnes an hour, according to Splash 247. The private operators must pay for and build their own connections, with the port authority responsible for approving them. For ALTP, the link is among the investment requirements attached to the PAR25 terminal lease. Cooperativa Cotriguaçu is also progressing with its connection, while other operators are still preparing engineering proposals or submitting them for approval.
Funding for the Moegão complex combines Portos do Paraná’s own resources with financing from BNDES, Brazil’s development bank. That financing arrangement covers the rail unloading project, while responsibility for the individual terminal connections rests with their operators. The first installation therefore marks a step in linking the new facility to the private export terminals it is designed to serve.
Commissioning work currently involves running mechanical equipment, conveyors, sensors and automated systems without cargo. Full operational trials will take place once a dedicated electrical substation has been finished. Despite construction being close to completion, those testing stages remain ahead of the complex’s expected completion in December, the timetable given by the port authority.