Santos Port achieves record cargo throughput in July

In July, Santos Port handled 15.3 million tonnes of goods, a record cargo throughput for that month and a 5.2% increase compared to July 2022 (14.5 million tonnes). This achievement contributed to an overall 0.8% rise in the year-to-date cargo movement, reaching a record-breaking 96.3 million tonnes.

Once again, agricultural products drove the growth, with soybeans standing out, totaling 2.1 million tonnes in July (+65.7%) and 26.7 million tonnes year-to-date (+16.3%). Sugar follows next, with 2.2 million tonnes in the month (+4.9%) and 10.4 million tonnes in the first seven months of the year (+4.9%).

This year’s corn volume amounts to 4.3 million tonnes, a 3.7% increase. Expectations are that these shipments will grow even more as the second harvest of this commodity enters the second half of the year.

Anderson Pomini, President of the Santos Port Authority (APS), reveals that the projection is to end the year with 18.8 million tonnes of shipped corn, 28.4 million tonnes of soybeans, and 21.4 million tonnes of sugar.

“The corn export cycle at Santos Port runs from July to December, alternating with the soybean harvest (first semester),” explains Pomini. He adds, “The infrastructure for agricultural crop movement is expanding within the Santos port complex. Multinational players in the food industry are investing in the port’s capacity for grain movement, with the most recent being Cofco’s STS11. The terminal is already undergoing expansion and will become the largest vegetable bulk terminal in the country.”

Santos Port accounted for 27.2% of Brazil’s corn exports and 36.1% of soybean exports from January to July.

See below the top ten most exported products from the Port of Santos in the first half of 2023. The data is from DataLiner, by Datamar.

Port of Santos Top Exports | Jan 2023 – Jun 2023 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Overall, shipments reached 11.6 million tonnes in the month, an 8.6% increase, and 71.7 million tonnes year-to-date, 2.9% higher than in 2022. However, imports totaled 3.7 million tonnes, a 5.2% decrease compared to July of the previous year. The year-to-date total reached 24.5 million tonnes, also showing a reduction of 4.8%.

Liquid bulk shipments also stood out, with citrus juice growing by 16.1% monthly and 8.3% year-to-date and alcohol increasing by 111.7% in the month and 35.1% in the first seven months of the year.

Containerized cargo movement reached 420.3 thousand TEUs, a 4.6% decrease from July of the previous year (440.6 thousand TEUs). This, however, remains the second-highest monthly movement for this mode in the port. Year-to-date, container movement is down by 6.5%, totaling 2.6 million TEUs.

Solid bulk cargoes reached 52.8 million tons in the year, a 7% growth, while liquid bulk reached 10.8 million tons, a 1.5% decrease compared to the same period last year.

The number of ships berthed in the first seven months of the year reached 3,125 vessels, reflecting a 3.8% growth.

Trade Flow

Santos Port’s cumulative participation in Brazil’s trade flow increased, reaching 28.4%. Approximately 31.2% of the nation’s foreign trade transactions involved China as a trading partner. São Paulo, with 54%, remains the state with the largest contribution to foreign trade transactions through Santos Port.

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