Fertilizer landings up 14% in Paraná ports

Fertilizer throughput at the ports of Paraná increased by 14% between January and May 2022. Imports of the product had entered an upward trend since last year, but landings became volatile with the war between Russia and Ukraine, following field price and demand.

In total, in the first five months of 2022, 4,791,982 tonnes of fertilizers were landed compared to 4,192,659 tonnes in the same period of 2021. The growth pace, however, was not uniform.

In 2022, fertilizer imports peaked in February. With the beginning of the conflict, the ports of Paraná received 1,338,633 tonnes of fertilizers, almost 48% more than in January.

In a couple of months, volumes declined. In March, 879,908 tonnes arrived at the state’s ports, a figure 34% lower than February but 15% higher than that received in the same month of 2021.

In April, another drop: 597,327 tonnes were received, 32% less than the previous month. For the first time in the year, the monthly value was also below that recorded in 2021: a 28% drop compared to the 829,475 tonnes imported in April last year.

Now, the May numbers show that imports have risen again: 88% compared to the last month. With 1,125,585 tonnes handled, there was also an increase compared to the same month in 2021, when there were only 916,924 tonnes (+23%).

According to the director-president of the public company that manages the terminals in Paraná, Luiz Fernando Garcia da Silva, the movement follows the price variation and the fear of the lack of input on the part of the producers. “When the war started, there was a lot of insecurity about the impacts on the market. At the time, many people chose to anticipate purchases to guarantee the product delivery and their “storage,” he explains.

“As the conflict progressed, prices rose, and storage capacity reached its limit. However, there was no shortage of products or queues for ships. The operation was affected, but the logistics chain involves factors at both ends”, adds Garcia.

Private warehouses with a maximum storage capacity of 3.5 million tonnes have been operating in Paranaguá, Brazil’s principal port of entry for fertilizer arriving in the country. “It is not yet feasible to predict whether demand will continue to rise or shrink. The provision has been normalized; it is now more dependent on prices agreed between importers and farmers,” Garcia explains.

According to him, the ports of Paraná received 201 ships with fertilizers in the first five months of this year. Last year, there were only 156 vessels.

Antonina

With fertilizer demand increasing, the private terminal in Antonina registered a 373% increase in the volume of fertilizers between January and May 2022: 572,045 tonnes in 2022, compared to 120,852 in the same period in 2021.

Rainfall impacts activities in Paranaguá and Antonina

In the last month, the weather has affected port operations in Paraná. The rains, which prevented the loading and unloading of grain shipments, stopped operations for 6.5 days. The downtime is over 67% more than in May 2021, with 3.9 days.

The Ports of Paranaguá and Antonina have already seen 12.3 days of closure due to rain this year. In the first five months of 2022, the total movement totaled 23,961,329 tonnes, including 5,267,950 in May alone.

The decrease compared to the period from January to May 2021, when Paraná ports handled 24,342,881 tonnes, is 16%. The most impacted sector was solid bulk exports, down 9% from 10,723,660 tonnes last year to 9,736,003 tonnes this year.

The decrease in soybean handling pulled figures down this year. From January to May 2022, 4,928,686 tonnes were shipped vis-a-vis 6,882,951 in 2021 (-28%).

Notwithstanding, the handling figures increased for soybean meal (17%), corn (161%), and wheat (135%), with 2,401,047 tonnes, 1,546,248 tonnes, and 32,895 tonnes, respectively.

Liquid bulk

Shipments of edible vegetable oil increased by 38%. In total, in the first five months of the year, 699,785 tonnes were sent abroad. Around the same period, 508,087 tonnes were exported in the previous year. Liquid bulk imports, however, decreased by 35%. There were 136,454 tonnes in 2021 and 136,454 in 2022.

Containers 

From January to May 2022, 471,276 TEUs were handled – a 4% increase compared to the same period of the previous year.

In terms of exports, the segment grew by 8%. In the first five months, 273,342 TEUs were loaded, and in 2021, 253,728 TEUs. In the opposite direction, in terms of imports, 197,934 TEUs this year and 200,638 TEUs in 2021, down 1%.

Container throughput at the Port of Paranaguá | Jan 2021 – April 2025 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

General cargo

In the general cargo segment, exports increased 11% year-to-date: they rose from 2,531,027 tonnes from January to May 2021 to 2,813,627 in 2022. In imports, there was a 4% drop: from 2,305,85 to 2,208.353 tonnes. It is worth mentioning that pulp handling, whose exports reached 328,320 tonnes, increased by 18% compared to 2021.

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