Aug 01, 2016
Brazilian Port of Santos sets Records for first Six Months of 2016
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The Port of Santos in the state of Sao Paulo is Brazil's most important port and during the first six months of 2016, the port set a new record for tonnage moving through the facility. Each month thus far in 2016 has set a record with the total tonnage for the first semester of 2016 at 57.7 million tons, which was 4.7% more than last year. In total value of products for the first semester, the Port of Santos exported US$ 26.8 billion (29.7% of Brazil's total), while imports totaled US$ 18.8 billion (28.2% of Brazils' total).
The big increase in tonnage was for exports which increased 11.1% to 43.2 million tons while imports declined 10.7% to 14.5 million tons. The three major exports were soybeans, sugar, and coffee. The soybeans went primarily to China, Thailand, and Iran and accounted for 17% of the total. Sugar went to China, Algeria, and India accounting for 9% of the total and coffee headed to the United States, Germany, and Japan accounting for 6.7% of the total. The five major countries for exports were China (19.5%), United States (11.0%), Argentina (6%), the Low Countries (4.6%), and Mexico (3.1%).
The five major countries that were the source of imports were China (19.7%), United States (17.6%), Germany (10.5%), Japan (4.8%), and South Korea (4.3%). The major imported items consisted of gasoline and diesel fuel, gear boxes, machine parts, and airplane and helicopter parts.