Logistics services in Paraguay.

Paraguay logistics overview: modes, trade and gateways

Logistics services in Paraguay rely on river, road, and air connections. Cargo uses Puerto de Asuncion on the Paraguay River and road corridors to seaports in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile. Shippers can route containers and breakbulk via Rosario, Porto Alegre, Montevideo, and Antofagasta, at about 1,000 to 1,900 km from Asuncion. Air freight moves through three main international airports, while limited rail infrastructure supplements road haulage for specific links.

Customs, documentation, and tracking are supported by Paraguay’s participation in the WTO and Mercosur. The logistics performance index score of about 2.7, with customs at 2.4 and infrastructure at 2.5, indicates moderate efficiency with room for improvement. Tracked shipments and international shipments rate at 2.8 and 2.7, while timeliness is relatively stronger at 3.0, which helps time-sensitive cargo planning.

Freight forwarders in Paraguay need to coordinate inland legs from Asuncion to foreign seaports and manage river and road transits. Using road gateway ports such as Rosario, Porto Alegre, Montevideo, and Antofagasta, they arrange cross-border trucking and onward ocean freight. Offices of carriers like CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC, Maersk, ONE, CNC, and ZIM in Asuncion support scheduling and documentation.

When selecting freight forwarders in Paraguay, shippers should look closely at performance in customs and infrastructure, where LPI scores are 2.4 and 2.5. Experience with main export goods such as soybeans, beef, electricity, corn, and soybean meal and import goods like broadcasting equipment, refined petroleum, fertilizers, cars, and pesticides is useful. Forwarders familiar with Mercosur procedures and Paraguay’s core partners in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, the USA, Uruguay, and Germany can streamline regional and global flows.

FCL and LCL shipping from and to Paraguay moves through river and road corridors to seaports abroad. Puerto de Asuncion, classified as a very small port, serves river traffic with a cargo pier depth of about 1.8 m. The country handles about 38,000 TEU and ranks between 147th and 168th worldwide, with a relatively low liner shipping connectivity index of about 1.9.

For deep-sea container services, shippers typically truck FCL and LCL cargo from Asuncion to ports such as Rosario in Argentina, Porto Alegre in Brazil, Montevideo in Uruguay, or Antofagasta in Chile, over road distances of roughly 1,000 to 1,900 km. Major container lines including CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC, Maersk, ONE, CNC, and ZIM maintain offices in Asuncion, which helps coordinate inland haulage, bookings, and documentation with ocean services on the east and west coasts of South America.

Air freight in Paraguay uses Silvio Pettirossi International Airport, Guaraní International Airport and Teniente Ramon A. Ayub Gonzalez International Airport, all handling scheduled traffic. Total air cargo volume is modest at about 1 million tonne-km, so capacity is smaller than in larger regional hubs.

Air transport makes sense for higher value imports like broadcasting equipment, refined petroleum products, specialized fertilizers, parts for cars, pesticides and time-sensitive components. For exports, air can complement river and road routes when moving urgent consignments of agricultural or industrial goods to main partners such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the USA and Uruguay.

Rail and road freight in Paraguay provide the inland backbone to connect with foreign seaports and neighboring markets. The rail network extends about 30 km and plays only a minor role compared with road transport. Border road crossings link Paraguay to Argentina over about 2,531 km, Brazil over about 1,371 km, and Bolivia over about 753 km, enabling truck-based trade flows.

Typical road corridors run from Asuncion to gateway ports such as Rosario, about 1,025 km away, Porto Alegre at roughly 1,083 km, Montevideo at about 1,337 km, and Antofagasta at roughly 1,855 km. Road haulage carries export commodities like soybeans, beef, electricity, corn, and soybean meal to these ports, and brings in imports such as broadcasting equipment, refined petroleum, fertilizers, cars, and pesticides. Road performance and border procedures matter, given Paraguay’s landlocked position and dependence on these corridors.

Paraguay is a member of the World Customs Organization, with membership recorded since 1969, and participates in the World Trade Organization and the Mercosur trade bloc. The average applied tariff is about 4.63 percent, shaping duty exposure for most imports. On the logistics performance index, customs scores 2.4 compared with a world median of 2.6, indicating slightly less efficient procedures than the global midpoint.

Median import and export tariffs are complemented by relatively short border processing times. Exports take about 3 days and imports about 2 days. For customs clearance, shippers should prepare a commercial invoice, packing list and transport document aligned with declared HS codes and values. Close coordination with local brokers helps manage inspections and ensure that documents match cargo and contractual terms.