Port of Itaqui sets new soybean record in June

More than 2 million tonnes of soybeans passed through Itaqui Port in June, a record month for the Maranhão-based public port. The total cargo volume moved in the first half of the year reached nearly 17 million tonnes, with soy, fertilizers, corn, and copper being the most handled commodities. This represents a 7% increase over the first half of 2022.

The movement of solid bulks (including soybeans, soybean meal, fertilizers, copper, coal, and clinker) grew 9% in the first half of the year, with 11.8 million tonnes moved. In June alone, 2.5 million tonnes of these bulks were operated at the port.

The volume of fertilizers grew 12% in the first half of the year, with 1.5 million tonnes of cargo moved. In June alone, 345,600 tonnes of fertilizers entered through Itaqui to supply the entire Itaqui influence area.

With 802,000 tonnes moved, fuel operations increased by 7% from the total seen in June 2022. In the first six months, imported liquid bulks through Itaqui reached 4.2 million tonnes in the first six months of the year. These numbers will soon be even higher due to the start of ship-to-ship operations, a maneuver that allows the transfer of cargo from one ship to another, occupying a single berth.

All the fuel unloaded at Itaqui arrives by ships, and a part goes to distributors to supply, by railways and highways, the gas stations in the states of Maranhão, Piauí, Tocantins, Goiás, Mato Grosso, and Pará. Another part is transferred from a large ship to a smaller ship for distribution to other Brazilian coastal ports, such as Fortaleza, Belém, and Itacoatiara (cabotage). It is this transfer that ship-to-ship operations will impact.

The first test was conducted last week, and the expectation is that Itaqui Port will begin operating with ship-to-ship by September, after the release of ANP – National Petroleum Agency.

Sharing is caring!