Increased inspections in China expected to slow down return of vessels to Brazil

A recent assessment made by Maersk stated that China`s increased control over imported food in an attempt to prevent a second wave of Covid-19 infections is likely to delay the flow of logistics from ports. This will cause ships that leave Brazilian ports bound for China carrying meat, will take longer to return.

“The big risk is that [the containers] will spend more time with customers, albeit against their will. A container going to China currently undergoes random inspections and talks are being held about inspecting much more to make sure that there is no contamination,” said Maersk’s global protein and dairy chief, Jean Stoll, in a recent interview with Valor Econômico.

Even before the tightening of inspections took effect in recent weeks, the pandemic had already increased transport times. In normal circumstances, the container would be in the exporter`s possession for 13 days until shipped. Currently, this period has increased to between 17-20 days. There have also been cases of loaded containers waiting 30 days for importers to be able to take action.

According to data from DataLiner, Brazilian exports of refrigerated containers loaded with chicken increased by 6.8% in the first quarter, reaching almost 35,600 40-foot containers – with on average, 27 tons of product in each container. In the case of pork, the growth was almost 45%, reaching 5,600 containers. On the other hand, the data shows exports of reefer containers carrying beef fell 5.4% during the same period, to 12,800 containers.

The graph below shows exports via reefer container from Brazil to China and the Far East:

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Source: DataLiner

The graph below shows beef, pork, and chicken exports from Brazil to China month by month:
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Source: DataLiner

Source: Valor Econômico

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