Overview:
The Port of Santos (in Portugal: Porto Santos, Port Code: BRSSZ) is located in Santos, São Paulo State, Brazil. The port passes through the Mar Mountains by a railway (79 kilometers) to reach the city of Sao Paulo. As of 2006, it is the busiest container port in Latin America. As the main container terminal in Brazil , it has loading and unloading terminals for all kinds of cargo, including solid, dry bulk and liquid cargo. In the 19th century, the port of Santos was once considered a "dead port" because of yellow fever. Today it is the most modern port in Brazil and the largest port in Latin America. Coffee (the largest production base in Brazil), orange juice, and soybeans produced in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil are all exported through the port of Santos.
The Port of Santos is the largest port in Latin America, and its throughput has maintained an astonishing growth rate for three consecutive years, with an increase of more than 20%. It is estimated that the throughput of the Port of Santos in 2006 will reach 2.5 million TEU, an increase of 10%. Although it has fallen from the previous three years, it still reflects the strong economic development momentum of Brazil. The throughput in 2005 was 2,267,921TEU, an increase of 20.5% over the previous year, ranking 38th in the world.
Port of Santos-Throughput
The port of Santos in Brazil has continued to grow rapidly since 2001 in terms of container throughput and annual cargo volume. It was 1.05 million TEU in 2001, 2.27 million TEU in 2005, and approximately 2.5 million TEU in 2006. The throughput of various types of cargo reached 79 million tons. Its world container port ranking has risen from 62nd to 38th, becoming South China. The largest port in the east coast of America in terms of throughput. According to the London "Containerization International" media report, Santos Port currently bears 30% of Brazil's foreign trade container throughput. In 2006, Brazil's total export trade was 130 billion U.S. dollars and the total import trade was 8.9 million U.S. dollars.