APM Terminals (APMT) has said its operations at APM Terminals Pecém, Brazil, has registered a double-digit year-on-year (YoY) growth in 2020, handling 387,717 TEU, with exports of reefer units driving traffic.
In a statement, APMT said cabotage volumes grew by 5% YoY, recording approximately 330,000 TEU in 2020. With this, cabotage continues to represent the majority of the terminal’s moves with about 85% of the total volume.
In terms of long-haul loads, APM Terminals Pecém recorded a 49% growth YoY. Export and import account for 15% of the total volume handled.
According to data 2020 APMT Pecém was Brazil’s leading port for exports, which increased by 19.56% YoY.
Daniel Rose, Managing Director of APM Terminals Pecém, said, “We started the year with a growth perspective between 5% and 6%, however the pandemic forced us to prepare for various scenarios, including a volume drop”.
Rose also pointed out that it took resilience and dedication to face the pandemic, protecting people’s lives and at the same time, keeping the focus on the quality of services provided.
“Our work could not – and cannot – stop, so we adopted all possible safety measures and continued to operate with quality and, gradually, we saw the volumes grow surprisingly”, he concluded.
The numbers are to a large extent the result of strong performance of the fruit industry, APMT said. The region’s fruit export market was responsible for this growth, where APM Terminals Pecém grew by 13% in the market share to 33%, becoming one of the ports that exported the most fruits in the Northeast region.
In addition to the significant market share growth, APM Terminals Pecém recorded a 73% increase in container moves for the 2020/2021 fruit harvest season, being the main export terminal and the facility of choice for the principal exporters in the region.
André Magalhães, Head of Commercial at APM Terminals Pecém, the achievements of 2020 underlined the terminal’s strong focus on customers and their business needs.
“We adopted Lean culture in all our departments, focusing on continuous improvement, standardisation of processes and reduction of waste. Our commitment is to offer a world-class standard experience, whether for customers arriving by ship or entering via terminal gate”, comments Magalhães.
Magalhães also pointed out that infrastructure as an important factor, attracting larger ships and more services to the region. “We have full capacity to absorb this potential. For example, we operate with two Super-Post-Panamax cranes, which increases operational capacity and reduces the operating time on ships at the port.”
Other benefits of the terminal include a 100% operational scanner, automatic scheduling for delivery and removal of containers or 1,200 reefer plugs (the largest in the region), which reduces waiting time for trucks and maintains desired temperature of the cargo as agreed with the customer.
In 2020, APM Terminals Pecém carried out a pier extension, with the inauguration of a new cradle by the State Government, which increased the capacity to receive two ships docked simultaneously and thus reduced the downtime between the operation of the vessels.
The terminal is part of a small group of facilities in Brazil that can handle vessels of 366 m of length and 15.3 m of draught and can receive a new family of super ships with a capacity of more than 12,000 TEU.
