Port of Santos Breaks Monthly and Semiannual Records Driven by Expansion of Agribusiness Cargo Operations

Agribusiness Boosts Cargo Movements at the Port Terminal of Santos, Surpassing Monthly and Semiannual Records. Soybeans Stand Out as the Largest Cargo, Reaching About 21.6 Million Tons in the Semester.

Last Thursday, (07/28), it was announced that the Port of Santos has once again recorded cargo movement records for agribusiness. In the first half of 2022, the port terminal reached its best historical mark for the period, 80.7 million tons, a significant increase compared to the same period last year, for example.

Agribusiness Cargo Is the Main Reason for the Increased Movement at the Port of Santos

Agribusiness is the main reason for the increase in cargo movement at the port terminal of Santos, causing the port to surpass monthly and semiannual records this year. In the first half of 2022, the port experienced a 5.7% increase over the same period last year, considering only the month of June, there were 14.1 million tons driven by agribusiness, a growth of 6.7% compared to the same month of the previous year.

Agribusiness cargo continues to lead this performance in movement. Thus, in the aggregate for the semester, the soybean shipments (+10.9%), with 26.1 million tons; corn (+184.1%), with 1.8 million tons, and cellulose (+60.4%), with 3.9 million tons, along with fertilizer discharges (+23.1%), with 4.1 million tons, were highlights, for example. Additionally, shipments of meat (+41%), with 1.2 million tons, fuel oil with 1.4 million tons, citrus juices also with 1.2 million, and discharges of sulfur with 1 million, also stood out.

However, the highlights for the month of June were led by soybeans, with 3.5 million tons, an increase of 21.3%, cellulose also secured its place with an increase of around 46%, and corn with 325 thousand tons, boosting the start of the sale of this grain’s harvest, also stood out.

The Large Movement at the Port Terminal of Santos Also Boosted the Brazilian GDP

With the massive movement provoked by agribusiness at the port of Santos, one of the beneficiaries was the Brazilian GDP, which grew on average 1.1% per year, with the annual growth of tonnage and the container rate at the port terminal. Furthermore, fertilizers topped the ranking of import cargo, growing 21.5% and totaling 8 million tons.

Thus, the port’s operations director, Marcelo Ribeiro, warns of the need for new infrastructures for container operations: “Our current capacity is 5.3 million TEU. SPA, the National Agency for Waterway Transport (Antaq), and the Ministry of Infrastructure (Minfra) are already preparing a tender for a new area for container operations, STS 10, which is expected to occur in the second half of this year. STS 53 is crucial for Santos to provide adequate infrastructure for the demand for this cargo. Currently, we cannot fully meet the volume of fertilizer in our area of influence due to lack of installed capacity.”

Additionally, a total of 4,856 ships docked at the Santos terminal in the past year. These numbers were 1.0% below 2020. The drop in the number of ships combined with increased movement characterizes the arrival of larger vessels to Santos, allowing for better operational performance and increased productivity.