Porto do Açu to export soybeans in 2021

Porto do Açu Operações, responsible for the management of the Prumo Logística port complex in São João da Barra (RJ), wants to establish itself in agribusiness for the 2020/2021 harvest. This year, the company started to import fertilizers and expects to start exporting grain in the reverse flow beginning next year. The initial focus will be the shipment of soybeans.

To operate in agribusiness, Açu built a covered warehouse in 2020 at the Multicargas Terminal, with a capacity to store 25 thousand tons per month of inputs. The company plans to quadruple the structure by 2022.

With the movement of grains, the company’s idea is to develop a reverse flow for the importation of fertilizers. The fertilizer loads that arrive at Açu today are mainly destined for coffee farms in Minas Gerais and western Espírito Santo. The intention is that the trucks that leave Açu towards Minas with fertilizers will return to the port transporting soy. The company also intends to become an export route for soybeans and corn from the Midwest, and not just grains from Minas Gerais producers.

Initially, the port sees the potential to export around 1 million tons of grain per year from the flow via highways. In the future, Açu believes it can consolidate itself as a route for Brazilian agribusiness if the construction of the EF-118 railway (Vitória-Rio) is confirmed by the end of the 2020s. Açu estimates that with the connection to the railway infrastructure, the port’s grain export potential may reach 3.9 million tons per year.

In addition to the flow of grains and import of fertilizers, Açu has plans, also for the future, to build an on-site fertilizer factory. The company is betting on the opening of the Brazilian market and its effects on the drop in natural gas prices – one of the main raw materials to produce ammonia and urea – to get the project going.

Porto do Açu currently exports mainly iron ore and oil. The company’s expectation is that the port ore terminal, operated by Ferroport (joint venture between Anglo American and Prumo), will close 2020 with a turnover of 24 million tons, an increase compared to the 23 million tons exported in 2019.

The graph below shows cargo handling at Porto do Açu in the comparison between January and October 2019 and 2020:

Port of Açu Handling | Jan to Oct 2019-2020 | WTMT

Chart source: DataLiner

Report source: Valor Econômico

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