Interim solution gets goods flowing through Brazil’s second-largest container port

Local authorities in Brazil have found an interim measure to run one of the nation’s top ports nearly 18 months after a terminal operator left. 

JBS, a Brazilian food manufacturer, will take over the running of Itajaí port in Santa Catarina state for two years while a tender is prepped for a longer contract.

The previous contract at the port, held by APM Terminals, expired at the end of 2022, and no one took over the port as companies went to court over the details of another tender, leading the state government to run the port in a limited way over the last year. 

In container handling, Itajaí is the second largest port in Brazil, leading the ranking among exporters of frozen products. In imports, the main products are machinery, engines and equipment.