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The Batista brothers, owners of JBS and at the helm of an empire that grosses over R$ 400 billion per year with beef, chicken, and pork, operate a business branch that few people associate with the most well-known surname in Brazilian agribusiness: port activities on the coast of Santa Catarina. Wesley and Joesley Batista lead a company that manages operations in the port complex of Itajaí, one of the busiest in Southern Brazil, a strategic position that connects the protein export chain to international maritime transport, According to the NSC.
The Batista brothers are known in Brazil and worldwide as the owners of JBS, the largest meatpacking plant on the planet and one of the largest food companies in operation. But Wesley and Joesley run a business on the coast of Santa Catarina that rarely makes headlines and that most people are unaware of: they both lead a company that operates in the port complex of Itajaí, one of the most strategic ports in the South of the country for the movement of containers, general cargo, and refrigerated products.
The connection between meatpacking plant and port is not accidental: it’s vertical integration. JBS exports meat to over 190 countries, and the Itajaí complex is an essential route for the product to leave industrial plants in the South and Midwest and reach ships that supply markets in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Controlling the port operation through which a significant part of their own production passes reduces logistics costs, increases shipment predictability, and gives the Batista brothers a competitive advantage that few competitors can replicate.
What the Batistas do in the Itajaí port complex
Port of Itajaí grows operations by over 300% under JBS Terminals administration (Photo: JBS Terminals, Tanajura, Disclosure)
The port complex of Itajaí, at the mouth of the Itajaí-Açu river, is one of the main foreign trade hubs in Santa Catarina and Brazil. The region concentrates terminals that handle containers, solid bulk, refrigerated cargo, and vehicles, and the presence of the Batista brothers in this ecosystem occurs through a company that acts in the administration and operation of activities within the complex.
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The business logic is vertical integration. When a company controls everything from animal slaughter to ship loading, each intermediate stage belonging to third parties represents cost, risk, and dependence. By operating in the port through which part of JBS’s meat is exported, the Batistas eliminate one of these intermediaries and gain end-to-end control over logistics, a model that large global industrial groups have adopted for decades but which is still an exception in Brazil.
Itajaí as a strategic port for the protein chain
The complex of Itajaí and Navegantes, neighboring cities connected by the same port structure, is the second largest in Brazil in container movement, behind only Santos (SP). For the protein chain, the geographical position is privileged: the port is close to industrial poultry and pork plants in Santa Catarina — the state is the largest Brazilian exporter of chicken meat and the second largest of pork.
JBS has significant operations in Santa Catarina through Seara, a poultry and pork brand that is one of the largest in the country. The proximity between Seara’s factories and the Itajaí port complex shortens the logistics chain and reduces the time between the product leaving the industrial plant and boarding the refrigerated ship, a critical factor for perishable cargo that loses value every hour outside the cold room.
J&F and the business portfolio that goes beyond meat
The Batista brothers operate their businesses through J&F Investimentos, a family holding company that controls JBS and dozens of other companies in sectors ranging from pulp (Eldorado Brasil) to banking (Banco Original), passing through leather (JBS Couros), packaging, energy, and now port activities. J&F’s portfolio reflects a diversification strategy that transforms the Batistas into industrial operators of scale, not just slaughterhouse owners.
The port operation in Itajaí fits this logic. J&F does not need the port to be profitable in isolation for the investment to be justified: it is enough for the operation to reduce JBS and Seara’s logistics costs by a sufficient volume to offset the capital employed. This is the same reasoning that led the group to invest in energy (to supply its own factories) and in packaging (to reduce dependence on external suppliers).
What almost no one knows about the Batistas in Santa Catarina
The presence of the Batista brothers on the Santa Catarina coast is discreet by nature. Port operations do not generate the same visibility as the JBS or Seara brand on supermarket shelves, and most residents of Itajaí probably do not associate the Batista name with the activities that take place in the port terminals. This invisibility is, to some extent, strategic: the less public attention on logistics, the less regulatory exposure and less scrutiny over contracts.
The fact is that over two decades, the Batistas have built a conglomerate that controls key parts of the Brazilian production chain, from cattle in the pasture to containers on the ship. The operation in Itajaí is just another piece of a puzzle that includes production, processing, transport, and export, an integration model that partly explains why JBS became the largest meatpacker in the world and why the Batista brothers continue to be the most influential names in Brazilian agribusiness.
The current context: investigation in the USA and pressure on businesses
The diversified operations of the Batista brothers gain extra relevance at a time when JBS is facing a criminal antitrust investigation in the United States, announced by the Department of Justice in May 2026, on suspicion of price-fixing in the American beef market. Regulatory pressure in the USA impacts JBS USA, but the ripple effect could affect the entire group’s chain, including logistics operations like Itajaí’s, which depend on export flow to maintain volume and profitability.
If the investigation results in operational restrictions or heavy fines in the United States, the impact on JBS’s export capacity would be felt throughout the entire chain, from slaughterhouses to ports. For the Itajaí complex, any drop in the volume of refrigerated cargo exported means less port revenue, reinforcing that the Batistas’ port business is not an isolated venture, but an interdependent piece of an industrial ecosystem that thrives or suffers together.
Did you know that the Batista brothers of JBS also operate in the Itajaí port complex, in Santa Catarina? Tell us in the comments what you think about the group’s diversification and whether you believe controlling from the slaughterhouse to the port is a legitimate competitive advantage or excessive market concentration.
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