Posted on December 17, 2025
BRAZILIAN Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, announced a new private investment of R$948 million by the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) to expand and modernize the ICTSI Rio Brasil Terminal at the Port of Rio de Janeiro.
The project, scheduled for 2025–2029, is set to increase the terminal’s capacity by 70.5 percent, from 440, 000 TEUs to 750, 000 TEUs annually.
The total investment of R$948 million comprises R$414.4 million for infrastructure works and R$533.5 million for equipment. Filho said, “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, 000 to 750, 000 TEU and, in the future, perhaps reaching 1.2 million.”
He added, “This is important because when we put the port in partnership with the Federal Government, the state government and municipalities, we strengthen the country’s production chain and logistics.” The expansion includes advanced control systems and environmental sustainability measures.
The upgrade is designed to allow the terminal to accommodate large vessels, including new Panamax and post-Panamax ships up to 366 meters long. Roberto Lopes, Rio Brasil Terminal CEO, emphasized the strategic benefit: “Thus, we will not only expand the capacity of the Rio Brasil Terminal but also be able to help mitigate the congestion observed in the Port of Santos, better distributing the port demand in the country.”
The terminal is expected to reach 75-percent capacity utilization between 2029 and 2030. Anders Kjeldsen, ICTSI vice president for the Americas, affirmed the commitment: “This project demonstrates our long-term commitment to the development of Brazilian logistics competitiveness.”
Projections indicated that without these interventions, the terminal risked saturation as early as 2027 or 2028 due to continuous growth in container handling volume observed since 2023.
