As demand booms, waiting time for sugar loading at Rumo terminal reaches 45 days

Data from the maritime agency, Cargonave, shows that the average waiting time for loading sugar onto vessels at Rumo, the main export terminal at Santos, reached 45 days on June 14. In the previous week, the average wait was 41 days. During the same period last year, the average waiting time was five to seven days.

In the past three months, most of the global sugar demand has looked to Brazil, which is producing a record amount of the commodity. Mills have given priority to sugar over ethanol after the Brazilian fuel market had a drop in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

DataLiner data show that in the first four months of 2020, the Port of Santos exported 4.3 million tons of sugar, a volume 26.97% higher than year-ago levels.

Graph source: DataLiner (To request a DataLiner demo click here)

The Port of Santos is the main outlet for Brazilian sugar, totaling 80.69% of the volume exported from January to April 2020, followed by the Port of Paranaguá (with 14.47%) and Maceió, with 3.33%. The table below shows the volume of sugar exported by Brazil in the first four months of 2020 by port:

Table source: DataLiner (To request a DataLiner demo click here)

The following graph shows the main destinations for Brazilian sugar from January to April 2020:

Graph source: DataLiner (To request a DataLiner demo click here)

It is worth noting that the boom in sugar exports is happening during the same time as Brazil exports record volumes of soybeans, which contributed to the long waiting times faced by ships.  According to Cargonave, other sugar terminals in Santos also registered delays, although not as long.

Source: Reuters

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