Santos Brasil breaks all-time container handling record at its rail terminals

Santos Brasil closed 2016 with a historical container handling mark in its four railroad extensions at Tecon Santos - the largest and most efficient terminal in South America. A total number of 43,551 units were handled last year, representing a 32% increase over 2015, when 32,937 containers were handled. The best month in 2016 was December, with 4,461 units handled.

This result reflects the high demand for containerized commodities, predominantly pulp and paper, which totaled 17,000 containers originating in the Suzano (São Paulo State) and Três Lagoas (Mato Grosso do Sul State) regions. According to the Santos Brasil Executive Director of Port Operations and Logistics Ricardo Molitzas, investments in technology also boosted rail modal performance.

"In the second half of the year, we introduced an innovative and pioneering tool at the Port of Santos called Twin Pick, which doubled the productivity of our rail operations by loading or unloading two 20-foot containers simultaneously. An important gain from the new system is that we have now been able to operate a rolling stock with fifty 20-foot containers in about an hour and a half, which previously took three hours on average", says the executive, who is optimistic for 2017. "With the increase in exports, the expectation is that we can further improve our performance this year", he adds.

Logistical operation by rail has been one of Santos Brasil´s initiatives for at least four years. The company has leveraged the competitive advantage of operating the only rail terminal with four extensions in the Port of Santos and the scenario of opportunities in the railway sector in the country, which are now offering attractive costs to clients.

It is also worth noting that the railway modal has established itself as a strong alternative for reducing heavy traffic on the roads and in access routes to the Port of Santos. To illustrate this, each railcar can carry up to four 20-foot containers, enough to take four trucks off the roads. In addition, it reduces operating risk and the level of CO2 emission into the environment by up to 70%, as well as being directly aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development goals and with Santos Brasil¿s Sustainability Policy.