The Port of Santos grew in Q1 to its largest share of Brazilian trade in recent years

Cargo handling at the Port of Santos in Q1 2022 continued to heat and recorded a growth of 9.6% over the same period last year, totaling 38.7 million tonnes, an unprecedented level for the port. Such a performance raised the participation of the Santos Port Complex in the overall Brazilian trade to 29.7%, the best level seen in the first three months of the year since 2016.

Exports accounted for 27.7 million tonnes, while imports totaled 10.9 million tonnes, increasing 1.3% and 5.7%, respectively.

“The rise in cargo handling in the first quarter, as well as the Port’s increased share of Brazilian trade, highlight the need to expedite investments in order to keep up with demand, which is growing far faster than GDP. Therefore, we are on the right track to fulfill foreign demand with the auctions we have designed,” stated Marcelo Ribeiro, the director of operations at Santos Port Authority (SPA).

The slight 0.1% year-on-year reduction in handling rates to 15.14 million tonnes in March did not compromise the quarterly performance record. It is worth mentioning that March 2021 saw the highest monthly results in the port’s history, making the comparison basis extremely high. Even so, the performance in the month was stable enough to represent the second-best monthly result for Santos.

In terms of export cargoes, the most shipped cargo were soybeans (9.6 million tonnes), with an increase of 21.2% over the same quarterly basis; other relevant cargoes were cellulose pulp (1.9 million tonnes), with a growth of 67.8%; corn (1.2 million tonnes), up 102.4%; vegetable brans (1.9 million tonnes), with a 36.9% increase; and meat, with 597 thousand tonnes and growth of 62%.

See below which containerized products were most exported by the Port of Santos in 2021 and the first two months of 2022. The data are from DataLiner.

Export of containerized cargo via the Port of Santos | Jan 2021 – Dec 2021 and Jan – Feb 2022 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Fertilizer was the highlight among imported cargoes, with a growth of 27.6% in the quarter and totaling 2.3 million tonnes.

The volume of containerized cargo has remained at a level close to that of 2021, totaling 1.16 million TEU in the quarter, 3.4% below the 1.2 million TEU attained in the same period last year.

The volume of solid bulk handled (19.5 million tonnes) increased by 17% in the quarter, reflecting the good performance of the soybean, corn, and fertilizers complexes.

Liquid bulk totaled 4.5 million tonnes, up 2.9% year-to-date, the highest level seen for this type of cargo in the first three months of the year.

The vessel flow involved 1,224 berths, 4.1% more than in the first quarter of last year.

Trade Balance – China was Brazil’s partner for 32.2% of all the goods that passed through the Port of Santos in Q1. São Paulo remained the Brazilian state with the highest participation share in foreign trade transactions, thanks to the Santos complex (52.2%).

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