While the port authority is progressing plans to expand infrastructure given over to both containers and dry bulk, existing terminals are pursuing solutions of their own to handle more traffic. In the case of Libra Terminais, diversification into the port of Rio de Janeiro, as well as the development of new terminals outside the port area are part of the solution.

Privatisation of Brazil's container handling business commenced in 1995 with the opening of Libra Terminais' three-berth Terminal 3 at the Port of Santos. Its second container terminal, Rio's Terminal 1, subsequently followed. The company has since added specialist facilities at Campinas, Cubatão and Valongo. Libra Terminais is profitable year-on-year, which has allowed the company to make investment to date totalling more than $140m

Marketing manager Christiane Isoldi Garcia explains that shares in Grupo Libra are nowadays held by two Brazilian families and various individual investors, but are not available on the stock exchange.

“Our operations in Santos have been very successful. Last year, we handled 806,000 teu, which was a 20% increase over the previous year. However, unlike many ports registering such throughput increases, this wasn't the result of rising imports from Asia. In our case, traffic went up because of higher levels of Brazilian exports,” she says.

Indeed, since 1995, throughput has grown beyond all expectations, requiring large amounts of investment simply for the Santos operation to keep pace with growth. Even at Rio, volumes last year amounted to 202,000 teu, as imports to Brazil's second city grew, along with more boxes flowing to the country's vibrant southeast region.

At Santos, there are now seven quayside gantry cranes available to clients such as Maersk, Mitsui CSAV, and Hamburg Süd. Significantly, the latter chose Libra Terminais as one of the ports of call on the inaugural voyage of its 5,900 teu Rio de la Plata mother vessel.

“It arrived at our Santos terminal in April, where we were able to concentrate up to four cranes on it at one time, achieving an average productivity of 60 hourly moves over the berth. We consider this to be reasonably good productivity and is certainly what our shipping line customers are looking for at the moment,” Ms Garcia says, adding that this figure could be improved upon in certain situations with the caveat that handling safety cannot be compromised.

Maximum outreach on the terminal's cranes allows it to handle vessels incorporating up to 19 rows of ship-stowed containers. This, notes Ms Garcia, does impose something of a limit on the size of vessels that can be accommodated at the terminal, while the draught currently available varies from 10.8 metres to 12.8 metres across the three Santos berths. At present, vessel sizes are in the region of 4,000 teu, which means that pressure does not exist to implement major changes.

Nevertheless, the port authority is cognisant of the fact that it does have draught limitations and projects do exist to deepen both the approach channel and the depth at the berths. Realistically, this limitation might best be addressed in port authority plans aimed at developing whole new areas of the port, such as the Embraport initiative and also that at Barnabé-Bagres.

“Between 2005 and 2008, not just Libra, but Santos as a whole witnessed phenomenal growth in container traffic. To cope with expected continuing levels of growth, the port authority has expansion plans of its own, while our company is also looking at possibilities for 2015-2020, which is when all our existing capacity will have been used up,” says Ms Garcia.

In fact, Grupo Libra, in addition to its two main container terminals in Rio and Santos, also has three external port facilities in São Paulo state. In 2000, for example, with Brazilian Mitsui as a financial partner, Libra opened Libraport Campinas, which functions as a bonded warehouse and logistics centre for the central São Paulo state.

Libra Cubatão is slightly different. Although also functioning as a logistics distribution centre, the terminal provides reefer warehousing, handles breakbulk and unitised cargo, allows the stuffing and destuffing of containers to go ahead, while offering pre-stack and transport facilities. Ms Garcia suggests that the Cubatão terminal effectively complements what the company tries to do within the Port of Santos itself.

The latest project to emerge is at Valongo, located near the entrance to Santos, where direct rail access will allow Libra to set up a port-rail terminal to boost the number of containers currently despatched and received by rail. There is also much available space, which should allow substantial warehouse resources to be located there in the future.

“We are hoping that the Valongo terminal can handle export cargo from much further afield. Anybody wanting to send stuff overseas can transport it to that terminal easily either by rail or road, after which we can take care of all subsequent logistics involved with dispatching it abroad.”

According to Ms Garcia, about 10% of total throughput at the Libra Terminais facility in Santos arrives or leaves by rail. Two companies provide rail services: MRS Logística and Ferroban. The former, whose narrow gauge lines penetrate to the heart of the Libra terminal, is the most important of the two in terms of volume moved. She nevertheless points out that the majority of the traffic channelled through Santos is inevitably bound for São Paulo, which is Brazil's largest city. Hauls of beyond 200km are therefore relatively sparse, obviating again the use of rail.

“It is only about one hour from Santos to São Paulo and the road is good, so virtually everything goes by truck. From Cubatão, transport time is just 30 minutes, so road is even more competitive,” she says.

Grupo Libra actually owns a fleet of around 100 road haulage vehicles, which it makes available to customers. Other vehicles accessing the terminal are provided by owner-drivers. In all, 1,800 trucks access the Santos terminal daily and can be processed in around 20-30 minutes, at least in theory.

“Quite a lot can depend on the type of operation that is being undertaken. The reason we are shifting to a predominantly RTG-based yard concept is because it is easier to find containers in the stack and retrieve them using this type of machine. It is harder using reach stackers. We can also make bigger and wider blocks of containers, which also helps to improve our capacity.

“Nevertheless, while we can fulfil our commitments to the drivers in a reasonably productive way, customs clearance procedures and paperwork in general can significantly slow down turnaround times. Unfortunately, this is outside our control and relates more to the Brazilian authorities and their attitude to trade,” says Ms Garcia.

Such impediments also affect rivals in the port, such as Santos Brasil, she says, pointing out that there is, nevertheless, competition between terminals to secure clients. Some have signed reasonably long term contracts with Grupo Libra based on things like price or vessel productivity. Other lines are more willing to switch service providers, if conditions are right.

“Service quality is vital these days, which is why our group is investing heavily in logistics and distribution facilities to that we can offer our clients a whole raft of elements to help their businesses, whilst at the same time ensuring that we retain customers.”