[3] The Ponta da Madeira Maritime Terminal, owned by mining company Vale, sits next to the public Porto do Itaqui, in the state of Maranhão, in northern Brazil.

It was chosen as the terminus of the Estrada de Ferro Carajas, where trains unload iron ore for shipping overseas, mainly to Europe and Eastern Asia.

The smallish container patio is dwarfed by the piles and holding areas of the iron wharves, capable of handling ships up to 500 m long and 500,000 metric tons in dead weight.

In 2012, the train journey from the ore mine to the port was featured in an episode of Countdown to Collision, broadcast by The Discovery Channel.

[5] As of July 2013[update], the port is being expanded to handle large volumes of iron ore from the S11D mine near Carajas.