Brazil Hopeful of Trade Expansion

Since China Merchants Port set up shop in Paranagua, things have picked up in this small southern Brazilian city of 151,000 residents, Xinhua reported. In February, the company acquired a 30-year concession for 90% of the Paranagua Container Terminal (TCP), the country’s second largest, and launched operations there, including expansion work to handle Brazil’s growing commerce with China. “We have everything to develop China-Brazil ties even more. We are expanding the terminal to raise the annual shipment of 1.5 million containers to 2.4 million,” TCP’s CEO Luiz Antonio Alves told Xinhua. “We are investing $165 million to expand the port by 1,100 meters, and that will bring development to the whole region. Underwater drilling machines have been working nonstop to install the pillars needed to expand the dock in Paranagua Bay, located 91 km east of Curitiba, capital of Parana state. The project puts Paranagua on the map of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to promote trade and development along the ancient Silk Road routes and beyond by building a network of infrastructure across continents.