Brazil’s minister of ports and airports, Silvio Costa Filho, has announced a R$948m (around $175m) private investment to expand and modernize the operations of the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) Rio Brasil Terminal at the Port of Rio de Janeiro.
The project, scheduled to run from 2025 to 2029, will increase the terminal’s operational capacity by 70.5%, from 440,000 TEUs per year to 750,000 TEUs annually.
Of the total investment, around R$414.4m will be allocated to infrastructure works, while R$533.5m will be used to acquire new equipment.
Planned improvements include the unification and expansion of storage yards, rearrangement of buildings to optimize internal flows, acquisition of new equipment for container handling, modernization of utility systems and electrical infrastructure, as well as investments in technology and automation.
Advanced access control, monitoring, and cargo management systems will also be deployed.
“It’s an investment of almost R$1 billion that will be essential for us to expand operations here at the port, going from 440 thousand to 750 thousand TEU and, in the future, perhaps reaching 1.2 million,” said minister Filho.
The expansion of the Rio Brasil Terminal will allow the terminal to continuously operate large vessels on the full berth, including new panamax and post-panamax vessels, up to 366 meters long and with a capacity of more than 13,000 TEUs.
Two new cranes, set to arrive by mid-2026, are designed to service vessels of up to 400 meters.
With additional yard capacity and new cranes becoming available in 2026, ICTSI Rio is already offering expanded capacity to customers.
Once fully implemented, the terminal is expected to operate at around 75% capacity utilization between 2029 and 2030, improving predictability, lowering logistics costs, and at the same time offering limited waiting times.
Commenting on ICTSI’s investment, Anders Kjeldsen, ICTSI’s vice president for the Americas, said “this project demonstrates our long-term commitment to the development of Brazilian logistics competitiveness.” ICTSI operates 34 terminals in 20 countries.
