Yara uses cabotage navigation to ship fertilizers in bulk

The fertilizer giant Yara commenced on August 1st the first shipment of fertilizers in bulk via cabotage shipping in Brazil. From its pier in Rio Grande do Sul, the company will transport 15 thousand tonnes of products from the YaraBasa line, composed of NP and NPK, to its Mixing Unit in São Luís, Maranhão, to serve the region’s soybean farmers. The vessel will say along the entire Brazilian coast non-stop and is expected to arrive in the capital city of Maranhão in approximately seven days.

“This shipment operation to Maranhao brings several benefits, including access for farmers in the North and Northeast regions to Yara’s special fertilizer lines, especially at a critical time of supply chain disruptions caused by the war,” says Maicon Cossa, commercial vice president at Yara Brasil. According to Conab, the Matopiba region (Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, Bahia) saw roughly 8.2 million planted hectares in the 2020/21 crop, which should further increase once the current crop comes to an end.

“The market in the north of Brazil is the fastest growing in terms of crop area, and now we have another alternative for supplying the region with a national product. Currently, the region relies heavily on imported raw materials, so this migration will add another fertilizer supply alternative, helping to secure the chain’s effectiveness and enabling the acceleration and growth of local agriculture,” comments the executive.

The transport of fertilizer via cabotage, in addition to being a more operationally advantageous, faster, and safer procedure, is also more sustainable. “A 15 thousand tonnes cargo, for example, departing from Rio Grande to São Luís, would require 405 trucks to complete the journey of more than 3 thousand km via highways, which takes approximately seven days by the sea, with just one ship”, explains Maicon.

According to the executive, cabotage has become a viable option due to the latest advances made by BR do Mar. This program aims to balance the Brazilian transport matrix, which, among other measures, reduced the import tax levied on imported goods by sea (Afrmm rate) and made it no longer mandatory to own a fleet to ship products from one coastal port to the other. “Having a new transportation method is vital for food security in a scenario where logistics is one of the major obstacles for the delivery of fertilizers for the summer crop,” he emphasizes.

In this scenario, the Rio Grande Complex, considered Latin America’s largest and most modern park for fertilizer production, mixing, and shipping, gathers R$ 2 billion in investments by the company and will become a significant hub for Yara to send special mixes to ports across the country via cabotage, and other countries via sea freight.

To enhance the local operation, Yara installed a ship loader this year, which enables bulk loading of fertilizers straight onto ships and product transshipment between vessels, making the dock operation more agile and widening the range of places covered by Yara from the unit.

Source: Página Rural

To read the full original article, please go to: https://www.paginarural.com.br/noticia/301456/yara-destaca-operacao-de-cabotagem-de-fertilizantes-a-granel-do-brasil

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