Brazil’s total port throughput grows by 3.71% in the first quarter

Data from ANTAQ’s Waterway Statistics indicate that from January to April, the national port sector (public ports + private terminals) had a throughput of 340 million tons. The volume corresponds to a growth of 3.71% when compared to the same period in 2019.

Of the total handled between January and April, private ports handled 65.2% and public ports, 34.8%. The Ponta da Madeira (MA) Terminal was the private facility that was most busy with 51.8 million tons handled. Regarding public ports, Santos (SP) was the leader with 35.3 million tons.

Iron ore was the main cargo, totaling 108.5 million tons, marking a decrease of 6.21% when compared to the same period of 2019. Between January and April this year, the highlight was the movement of fuels minerals, which had a growth of 17.54%.

The throughput in April was 91.6 million tons, marking an increase of 16.6% when compared to the same month of 2019.

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Comparison between the 1st quarter of 2020 and the 1st quarter of 2019:

• Growth of 3.7% in port throughput
• 6.6% reduction in the number of moorings – increase in average consignment
• 11.7% increase in the total exported to China – Soy (41.5%) and Oil (44.5%);
• 11.5% increase in cabotage handling with platforms / 0.5% increase in cabotage handling without platforms
• Cabotage (general) in April decreased by 1.3%;
• Without platform transportation, April had a 19.21% reduction in relation to April / 2019 (-39.1% liquid bulk; -6.2% container; -41% general cargo; + 12.5% ​​solid bulk ).

According to the Antaq Statistics and Performance Evaluation management team, the effect of COVID-19 on total throughput, so far, seems to have been restricted mainly to the month of January, when the epidemic peaked in China, causing a decrease of 15.3% in Chinese exports. According to Antaq, this effect was overcome in the following months, due to total exports to China from January to April increasing by 11.7%. Soybeans and oil exports, especially, increased by more than 40%.

According to the agency, the expectation for the year 2020 is an increase in total port throughput. Despite a negative cabotage result in the short term, both exports and imports are expected to grow, mainly driven by agricultural bulk, and strong harvests combining with increased demand from China. As well as liquid bulk and oil, which have already increased by 20% up until April and should remain significant throughout the year.

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