Since 2015, the ports of Arco Norte have already been the second largest outlet for soy and corn from Brazil to other countries. However, when the analysis was expanded to the entire Soja Complex, including soy meal and soy oil, the situation changed, with the ports of Paranaguá (PR) and Rio Grande (RS) surpassing the ports in the North.
Nothing could be more natural, as soy processing industries tend to be close to the oilseed production and soybean meal and oil consumption regions. That is, closer to the Midwest, South and Southeast, where most of the feed, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, veterinary, paints, plastics, lubricants and biofuels industries are located, where there is the highest consumption of animal feed and also on the way to the main national ports. Thus, the state of Mato Grosso is the largest soy processor in the country (21,1%), with Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul coming next, with 20,6% and 15,4%, respectively.
However, in recent years, soybean and corn exports through Arco Norte ports have grown significantly, with the exception of 2016, when volumes exported by Brazil as a whole fell due to a crop failure. As a result, in 2017, the ports of Arco Norte shipped 14,7 million tons of soy beans, with Santos accounting for 16,6 million tons, Rio Grande with 12,5 million tons and Paranaguá 11,3 million tons. tons.
At the same time, corn became the differential both in Santos in relation to the ports of Arco Norte, and in relation to Paranaguá and Rio Grande. In 2017, the port of São Paulo exported 13,7 million tons of corn, while the ports of Arco Norte shipped 8,6 million tons, almost 5 million more than Paranaguá, and Rio Grande has never been a traditional corn exporter .
Thus, in 2017, the ports of Arco Norte began to handle almost 30% of the corn exported by Brazil, while Santos accounts for just under 47% of exports. Paranaguá, on the other hand, rose from the 24% share recorded in 2012 to just over 12% in 2017, becoming the third option for corn exports in the country.
Check out more numbers on Brazilian exports from the Soy and Corn Complex in 2017 in the infographic below:
Alexandre Lobo
https://ilos.com.brGraduated in Civil Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and in Social Communication from Faculdades Integradas Hélio Alonso (FACHA). Expertise in several projects with emphasis on market analysis for companies such as Unilever, Intertank, Invepar, Aqces, Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank.
