Seaport Consultants, Inc. analyzed river transport options for iron ore to be produced at a planned mine to be located near Corumbá, Brazil. The primary alternative proposed for evaluation by the client involved barging ore down the Paraguay and Parana rivers to an estuarine port near Buenos Aires for transfer to small ocean vessels, with these shuttling ore to a larger deepwater port on the Atlantic coast. Seaport investigated various river development scenarios, studied the economics of required dredging and navigational improvements, the capabilities of regional ports, likely ocean shipping costs to world major iron ore importers, and other factors.  Rail competition to Brazilian ports was also analyzed. 

Seaport analyzed: 

• River characteristics and current navigational impediments
• Current barge train sizes, transit times, and operating costs
• The degree to which barge operators were circumventing hazards to navigation through the use of modern sonar mapping and GPS positioning by operators on each voyage, with real time findings being shared throughout their fleets
• Barge operator plans for expansion or change
• Regional governmental plans to improve river transport, including dredging, aids to navigation, river ports development, environmental mitigation, financing, and other factors
• Regional ocean port capabilities, productivity, infrastructure, and costs
• Ocean shipping from regional ports to major iron ore import destinations

Seaport modeled future iron ore barge traffic on the river to ascertain the degree to which modern navigational and mapping technologies might minimize the need for some dredging and channel widening of the river system.  It was discovered that some infrastructure projects proposed decades before the introduction of these technologies could be eliminated or postponed as a result, these would have produced only minor transportation savings.

Much more important was the slow rate of river traffic growth, particularly in the upper stretches of the river system.  This lack of potential traffic, coupled with regional economic instability and environmental concerns, indicated that the Paraguay – Parana system would develop only slowly, even with the potential for added iron ore traffic.  

Finally, given the inability of the largest vessels to load in the River Plate, barges were to be unloaded into Handymax vessels and taken to a regional port capable of accommodating up to Capesize ore ships.  Transport costs were modeled between River Plate and regional ports able to handle deep draft ships.  This process would have added considerable cost to the project.    

Seaport concluded that the likelihood of required large-scale improvements to the Parana – Paraguay river system materializing was low, which would keep barge costs relatively high.  The need to transfer ore from river barges to Handymax ships in the River Plate and from these to Capesize vessels further added logistical complexity and cost.   It was recommended that other transport options, such as direct rail transport to from the mine to a Brazilian deep draft port, be considered.