Cellulose pulp handling increases by 57% until April, boosting Santos’ figures

Cellulose pulp was the star cargo in terms of handling in the Port of Santos during the first four months of the year, totaling 2.6 million tonnes, up 57% over the same period in 2021. The CEO of Santos Port Authority (SPA), Fernando Biral, emphasized that “this result confirms that attracting private investments through leasings, such as pulp handling areas STS 14 and STS14A, has been successful. Together, both areas entail investments of R$ 380 million.”

In total, SPA has prepared 11 auctions since 2019, which, combined, guaranteed R$ 7.1 billion in investment contracts. Six of these auctions have already been carried out, including STS 14 and STS14A, and another five are scheduled to happen, serving different cargo sectors.

The new Internal Railway of the Port of Santos (Fips) project will increase the port’s annual capacity to 115 million tonnes in the next five to ten years, guaranteeing more fluidity and efficiency in receiving and transferring cargo. The Fips project will require R$891 million in investments.

All of these investments were reflected in cargo handling, which grew in the first four months of the year. As a result, the port saw a seven percent growth in cargo volume from January to April 2021, reaching 52.5 million tonnes, a new high for the period.

Exports accounted for the largest share, totaling 37.8 million tonnes (+7.5%). Imports accounted for 14.6 million tonnes (+5.8%). Soybeans answered for the largest accumulated volume over the four-month period, with 14.0 million tonnes, an increase of 8.1% over the same period last year. Soybean meal production reached 2.8 million tonnes, up 46.8% year on year.

See below the track record of Brazilian exports of containerized cargo via the Port of Santos from January 2021 to March 2022. These data are from Datamar’s DataLiner.

Containerized Cargo at the Port of Santos | Jan 2021 – Mar 2022 | TEUS

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

April’s result totaled 13.8 million tonnes, 0.2% above the same month last year and characterizing the highest result ever recorded in the month.

Fertilizers grew 86.7% in the month to 644.7 thousand tonnes and 37.1% in the four months, reaching 2.9 million tonnes. Shipments of diesel also stood out in the month and the four-month period, with growths of 97.3% and 31.1%, respectively.

Containerized cargo operations in April also performed well, reaching 415,500 TEU, a growth of 8.7% over the same month in 2021, also the highest figure for this period.

In the first four months of the year, container handling totaled 1.6 million TEU, a slight drop of 0.4% compared to last year. Even so, it was the second-highest mark for that range.

Dry bulk accounted for 26.8 million tonnes, up 10.4% over the same period last year, registering the highest mark for the year’s first four months. Liquid bulk accumulated 6.0 million tonnes, with a growth of 2.4% and also guaranteeing the best performance for the period.

The number of ships docked at the port in the four-month period reached 1,640, an increase of 2.4% over the same base in 2021.

Trade Flow

The share of the Port of Santos in the Brazilian trade flow in April remained close to one-third, reaching 29.8%. On the other hand, 32.6% of foreign trade transactions that passed through the Santos port complex in 2022 involved China. São Paulo remained the state with the highest participation in foreign trade transactions through the Port of Santos (51.6%).

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