From 2010 to 2012, the Port of Houston Authority (PHA) handled a total of 311,314 twenty-foot equivalent units of trade with Brazil. In 2012, PHA’s market share was 17 percent of the total trade with Brazil, according to statistics compiled from the Journal of Commerce’s PIERS data.

Brazil is South America’s largest economy and has shown potential for further growth. Houston’s trade with Brazil has increased due to U.S. manufactured goods, such as synthetic resins, being exported out of Houston. Further trade growth could be expected, based on planned expansion projects in Houston that will increase ethylene production for export.

Machine parts, motor cars, plastic resins, coffee and granite are among Brazil’s main imports and exports with the Port of Houston Authority.

In addition, Brazil is Texas’ fourth-largest export market. The Port of Houston’s economic activity helps keep Texas the nation’s top exporting state. For the past 11 years, Texas has outpaced the rest of the nation in exports. In 2012, Texas exports totaled $265 billion, up by 5.4 percent from 2011, according to annual trade data from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Cranes will handle 50,000 t of container freight per year. With 98 % of Guernsey’s imports and exports passing through St. Peter Port, the harbour is currently undergoing a £13.75 m refurbishment of its freight handling facilities. The modernisation includes the replacement of four existing cranes with two Terex Gottwald cranes, which will handle 50,000 t of container freight per year.

The 63 t configuration Terex Gottwald HMK 170 E Mobile Harbour Cranes have a radius of 38 m and feature self-powered diesel generators. For increased efficiency and to avoid exhaust emissions within the port, the cranes are hooked up to 11 kV electrical shore supply power connections.

The recently delivered crane was manufactured at Terex Port Solutions’ production facility in Düsseldorf and transported to Antwerp, Belgium, for transfer by barge to St. Peter Port, Guernsey. The second crane, to be supplied during phase two of the project, will follow the same route.

Demolition of existing cranes

Terex Port Solutions was also responsible for the demolition of a quayside portal crane and a 32 t quayside scotch derrick crane, as well as civil reinstatement. During phase two of the project, the company will demolish two more cranes.

St. Peter Port’s Harbour Master, Captain Peter Gill, reported that Terex Port Solutions had provided the least cost, technically acceptable proposal as part of the open tender process.

“When fully operational, the two Terex Gottwald Mobile Harbour Cranes will be doing the work of the four former cranes, with obvious benefits in terms of the utilisation of available space and operational efficiency.” He added, “The transfer of the crane from the barge to the quayside was carried out during a limited window of opportunity, dictated by the 10 m tidal rise and fall, which we experience at the harbour. The delivery and commissioning processes were carried out in a thoroughly professional manner.”

 Recently appointed Terex Port Solutions’ UK Director Alex Stogianidis stated, “Our ability to provide technology led port solutions, backed by turnkey engineering and logistics packages, place us in a strong position to continue to win significant high profile contracts, reinforcing our position as a market leader.”

This is the first time that group container throughput has exceeded the one million twenty-foot-equivalent containers (TEU) mark.

The commendable performance was driven by growth in Bejaia Mediterranean Terminal SPA in Algeria which saw a sizable 20% TEU increment from 200,000 TEUs to about 240,000 TEUs. Other terminals under Portek’s management also achieved creditable performances with high single digit percentage increases in throughput.

According to Takao Omori, CEO of Portek, “We are very pleased with having broken through the one million TEU mark. With the addition of our latest acquisition Riga Universal Terminal into our portfolio of ports in April this year, we are marching steadily towards becoming a more significant player in the global port industry.”

The project included  the implementation of OCR systems (Optical Character Recognition) – the most efficient technology for port automation – on the gates for the identification of truck license plates and container numbers as they arrive at the terminal. “Our main goal is to improve the productivity of operations in addition to cargo and vehicle admission, avoiding logistic problems and the huge queues caused by the large volume  of trucks”, says Marcello Di Gregorio, director of Super Terminais.

HTS is currently planning the civil works while the equipment is being imported from Israel for installation in the terminal. According to the director the deadline for the project  completion is September 2013.

“Surveys have been carried out by our technical team, including physical and logistic Network, for reporting the essential services that must be consistently and continuously operational inside a port terminal. We are capable of identifying structural problems which are central for the success of the automation process”, highlights Thiago Albertine, IT Manager from HTS Brazil.

In Brazil, HTS works with the largest players in the market, the port terminal of Tecondi, in the port of Santos (SP), and of Grupo Libra. “In Tecondi, we are responsible for the automation of 22 gates. There are 20 gantries for truck recognition and two for trains monitored in real time without human intervention. For Grupo Libra, the OCR will be implanted in all the cargo and chassis access gates in the units of Santos and Rio de Janeiro”, concludes Maxwell Rodrigues, Vice-President of HTS Brazil.

About HTS Brazil.