Port of Paranagua Aims for Record Grain Shipments by End of 2023

The Port of Paranagua, one of the major grain ports in Latin America, is racing against time, aiming record grain shipments. By December, the goal is to ship 3.5 million tonnes of soybeans, 1 million tonnes of soybean meal, and 500,000 tonnes of corn.

“We’ve had a strong demand all year, whether for corn, soybeans, or soybean meal, which is a year-round cargo. Now, in the final quarter, it’s time to execute what we’ve planned all year and meet market demands,” Operations Director Gabriel Vieira explains.

For this year’s harvest to flow through the port, producers need to sell. There is a significant amount of grain sitting in silos and warehouses in the state.

According to the Organization of Cooperatives of Paraná (Ocepar), 25% of the soybean production is still stalled.

“If we add up what the producers in Paraná haven’t sold of soybeans and corn, we get around 14 million tonnes. But it’s not just what’s in the warehouses; it’s also what’s been sold and distributed by grain dealers, industries, and cooperatives,” explains Flávio Turra, Technical Development Manager at Ocepar.

He attributes this situation to pricing.

“Producers planted their 22/23 summer crop with prices well above what is currently being practiced. As a result, they are still hoping for a market rebound and are holding onto their production. However, prices are not responding as the producers had anticipated. Additionally, in the short and medium term, we do not expect significant changes in the current prices,” he analyzes.

The storage capacity in Paraná is 32 million tonnes of grains, which is 8 million less than the ideal.

To put it into perspective, if last year’s crop, which was 46 million tonnes, were to be harvested all at once, only 67% would be protected in the state’s warehouses.

With part of the production stalled, there is concern about the upcoming harvest.

“If we don’t accelerate the distribution of this year’s harvest, there is indeed a risk of having difficulty storing the entire future harvest if it is as bountiful as we are expecting,” warns Turra.

The October rains wreaked havoc in many parts of Paraná. However, cooperatives report that they had little impact on the 23/24 harvest. The harvest is expected to be abundant.

“Probably not equivalent to the last one of 46 million tons but a very good harvest, exceeding 40 million tons of grains,” Turra said.

While the rains may not cause problems in the grain fields, they do cause problems at the Port of Paranaguá, as shipments must be suspended, which means that approximately 200 tons are not loaded per day.

The chart below shows grain shipments – measured in tonnes – from the Port of Paranagua between Jan 2020 and Sep 2023. The data is from DataLiner.

Grain exports from Port of Paranagua | Jan 2020 – Sep 2023 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Source: G1

To read the original news report, visit: https://g1.globo.com/pr/parana/caminhos-do-campo/noticia/2023/11/05/porto-de-paranagua-preve-escoamento-recorde-de-graos-ate-o-fim-de-2023.ghtml

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