Trucks carrying grains were being sent down the Serra do Mar pass on the BR-277 highway, which was washed out over the weekend, Appa -- the port authority at Paranagua.
The railway system that hauls soybeans, meal, corn and other goods to Brazil's No. 2 port of Paranagua reopened Wednesday afternoon, its operator, America Latina Logistica, said.
The railway and highway had been totally closed for the transport of grains for a couple of days, although ships continued to load grains for export normally from the port's well stocked silos.
"The port of Paranagua is functioning normally. The rain greatly disrupted our operations and affected the road and railway, but expectations for the resumption of operations are excellent," said Appa Superintendent Airton Vidal Maron.
"I do not believe there will be additional setbacks in the port's movement," he added.
Ecovia, the operator of the BR-277 highway concession that leads to the port, said the movement of trucks on the road was at nearly half the normal flow of traffic at this time of the harvest.
Appa said about 1,000 to 1,500 trucks carrying grain pass through the port's unloading area on a normal day.
The port said that 48,600 tons of bulk grains were loaded on to ships on Tuesday, nearly twice the flow of the previous day due to the rains on Monday.
Three ships were berthed and taking on grain from the public portion of the export corridor, one loading soybeans, one soy meal and one corn. Their combined cargoes amount to 165,000 tons of grain.
The resumption of both rail services and the partial movement of trucks likely will allow the port to continue loading the 20-odd ships anchored off port waiting to take on grain cargoes without running out of grains.
Rains over the weekend washed out several bridges on BR-277, the main highway leading to and from the port, and stopped the movement of railway traffic as well, leaving the port with no way to replenish its silos with soy, corn, meal and sugar for exports.
The railway transports about 30 percent of all soybean coming into the port.
Trucks were lined up and waiting about 61 kilometers from the port above the Serra do Mar pass. They are passing down BR-277 to the port on a restricted schedule, sharing one of the highway's four lanes that is still passible with upcoming traffic through the day.
The governor of Parana state has requested federal assistance in finding a solution to reopen traffic on BR-277.
The Army was nearly finished constructing a temporary metal bridge on an access road to BR-277 that should allow better flow of traffic to the port by Friday, Appa said.
Ecovia, the company that operates the highway concession, estimates that repair of the BR-277 bridges could take 180 days. (Reuters)
