Cargo movement at Santos sets new record for May

Container movement at the Port of Santos set a new record for the month of May, totaling 362,341 teu (twenty-foot equivalent unit), ranking 3.5% above the total recorded in the same period last year (349,960 tons). May was also the third best monthly movement ever recorded, when compared to the other months of the year, only falling behind August/2018 (387,791 tons) and October/2018 (365,351tons).

Regarding the global movement, the port complex reached its second-best performance for the month of May, with 10.9m tons, behind only May/2017 (11.4m tons). It also recorded a 0.4% increase over the same period last year (10.9m tons). This growth was due to the performance of import cargo totaling 3.2m tons, an increase of 3.4% over May 2018 (3.1m tons). Exports, however, fell 0.8% to 7.77m tons, from 7.84m tons in May last year. The data were compiled by the Port Authority of Santos Statistics Management.

Among the goods that presented the highest percentage of growth are calcium phosphate, with 330.9% (127,749 tons); coffee, with 250.6% (196,682 tons); naphtha, with 154.6% (3,946 tons); meats with 115.5% (132,273 tons); and cellulose, with 75.4% (498,026 tons). It is also worth mentioning the increase in shipments of orange juice, with 27.3% (201,534 tons); fertilizer, with 44.8% (390,516 tons); gasoline, with 30.1% (147,510 tons); and alcohol, with 20.4% (101,130 tons). Soy and sugar, the two main cargoes handled at the Port of Santos, fell by 13.5% and 17.0%, respectively.

The number of ships reached 395, being 2.9% below May of last year (407).

Cumulative total movement

The cumulative total movement for the first five months reached 52m tons, falling 3.0% below the same period last year (53.6m tons). Shipments decreased by 3.8%, totaling 36.8m tons, and discharges decreased by 0.9% to 15.2m tons.

Cargoes with the highest increase were: meats (154.4%), coffee (153.3%), gasoline (71.6%), fertilizer (29.3%), and cellulose (15.1% %). Also, in the yearly accumulated movement, soybean grains and sugar still presented movement below the same period in 2018, with decreases of 5.6% and 6.5%, respectively. The containerized cargo movement, despite the good performance in May, was 6.5% lower than in the same period of last year, totaling 1.6m tons. The number of ship moorings was also 4.2% lower than the last period, totaling 1,958 vessels.

The following DataLiner chart shows the export numbers for Santos container terminals since 2009:

Source: Porto de Santos

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