Foto: Porto de Rio Grande / Advertisement Last year, more than a million 20-foot containers were transported between the ports of the Brazilian coast, according to the Brazilian Shipowners Association cabotage (Abac). The record mark corresponds to more than a million trips on the road that are no longer made in 2018. Historically, the cost of cabotage freight is up to 20% cheaper than the road.
"With the strike, companies that were already using cabotage increased volumes transported and those that did not use them," said Abac's president, Cleber. Lamb Lucas.
He says that the truckers' strike has given a new impetus to cabotage, which has developed in recent years. In the first half of the year, before the shutdown of the trucks, cabotage volumes increased by 13.5% compared to the previous year. But after the strike, the annual growth rate rose to 15.6% in September, according to Abac.
Aliança, the largest cabotage transportation company, saw its freight volume increase by 28% from the first to the second half of 2018. "This is the fastest growth for this period in the history of the company "says Marcus Voloch, director.
The increase is due to the migration of road freight to cabotage due to the increase in transportation costs due to tabulation. "We are looking for new customers, but we have increased conversion," said the manager, noting that the company had won two years in one. According to the company's initial forecast, the freight volume carried in 2018 was expected to increase by 8% over the previous year. Although the company has been operational since 1999, for the first time in 2018, it transported watermelons, melons, oranges and mandarins from São Paulo to Manaus (AM) in refrigerated containers. . "Marcos Rodrigo, director of Santos Brasil, which operates logistics terminals, confirms that the company's cargo transport to the ports of São Paulo, Brazil, has been carried out," he said.
Vila do Conde (PA) and Imbituba (SC) were a record last year. "For fear of a repetition of the strike, the companies sought to diversify freight, which favored us," he said.
Northeast
The most sought-after cabotage routes are those from north to northeast. and the southeast. Prior to shipping, the transportation of goods by truck from north and northeast to south and southeast was cheap because it was a return freight. With the country's production center located between the South, Southeast, and Midwest states, the trucks came back practically empty of the North and Northeast. As a result, the value of this freight on this route was low. However, with the obligation of the table, the return freight ceased to exist and companies in the North and Northeast had to look for economic outflows.
The stalemate of the freight table represents the Bolsonaro government to resolve