Damco starts deep penetration Amazon barge service

DAMCO, together with a local barge operator, has launched a new Amazonia River Barge service that utilises the River Madeira and links the port of Manaus on the Amazonia River with other main ports such as Panama.

The service is said to have made Porto Velho an internationally connected port via Manaus.

This comes after the local business communities in the states of Rondonia, Acre and Mato Groso states (the three most remote states in the interior of Brazil) struggled for 15 years to access sea ports and find an economical way to export their products, a Damco statement said.

"Damco customers exporting commodities have since early 2009 been able to take advantage of using Porto Velho Port (Rondonia) which will save them money, transit time and enable them to get a faster payment from their consignees by issuing the bill of ladings in Porto Velho," said the head of Damco in Brazil, Ulrich Nissen.

"This is a major advantage for Damco customers exporting cotton, leather, minerals, lumber and beef from the region going to Europe, Russia and Asia. The approximate cost savings for the exporters are around 10 per cent of the total logistics costs and further more cuts three to five days off the total transportation time."

This new service is competing with trucking to ports in the coastal region of Brazil and is, as such, a much more eco-friendly way of transportation and logistics, the company said.

It is the intention of Damco together with partners in general to continue to invest in the infrastructure development of this remote and fast growing region of Brazil.

(Source: www.schednet.com)