Agribusiness brings Port of Santos to yet another record in May

Cargo throughput at the Port of Santos in May reached a record volume of 15.1 million tonnes, a 6.1% increase compared to the same period last year, driven by the strong performance of agribusiness cargo. Shipments accounted for 11.4 million tonnes, indicating growth of 8.3%, while imports amounted to 3.6 million tonnes, a slight reduction of 0.3%.

The growth in soy shipments (16.6%) and sugar (23.7%) played a decisive role in achieving this result. The volume of soybeans handled stood at 5.0 million tonnes, while sugar reached 1.8 million tonnes. Corn also experienced significant growth of 43.5%, reaching 190.7 thousand tonnes. As a result, solid bulk handling grew by 16.2%, reaching 8.7 million tonnes, setting a new record for the month and the second-best monthly performance in the port’s history.

Anderson Pomini, the president of the Port Authority of Santos (APS), highlighted the positive performance of the terminals, which are equipped with advanced technology and efficient logistics, enabling the Port of Santos to meet the growing demands in cargo movement effectively.

However, the handling of containerized cargo in May reached 403,060 TEU, a decrease of 5.8% compared to the same period last year.

See below for a chart showing the movement of containerized cargo at the Port of Santos, including exports and imports, from Jan 2019 and Apr 2023. The data is from DataLiner.

Containerized cargo movement at Port of Santos | Jan 2019 – Apr 2023 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

The YTD movement was 65.3 million tonnes, 2.2% lower than the first five months of 2022. Shipments totaled 48.0 million tonnes (a decrease of 0.7%), and imports amounted to 17.2 million tonnes (down 6.0%).

In the year-to-date results, sugar saw a slight increase of 0.2%, totaling 5.7 million tonnes, while soybeans showed significant growth of 8.7%, reaching 19.7 million tonnes. Corn also experienced a notable increase of 18%, with shipments totaling 1.7 million tonnes. It is worth mentioning the rise in exports of citrus juices, which reached 1.1 million tons, an increase of 13.2% compared to the same period in 2022.

Containerized cargo totaled 1.8 million TEU in the first five months of the year, representing a reduction of 8.1% compared to the previous year’s period.

The number of ship moorings accumulated until May reached 2,193, indicating a growth of 4.0%.

Regarding trade flow, the Port of Santos accounted for 28.2% of Brazil’s commercial transactions with foreign countries. Approximately 31.6% of these transactions were conducted with China as the partner country. The State of São Paulo still holds the largest share in foreign trade transactions (53.9%) through the Port of Santos.

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