Jun 09, 2020
Port of Paranagua Exports Record Amounts of Soybeans in 2020
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Brazil has exported record amounts of soybeans for three months in a row including the month of May. At the Port of Paranagua, which is Brazil's second largest port, May soybean exports were more than double compared to May of 2019.
During the first five months of 2020, the entire port complex including both public and private grain terminals, exported 9.6 million tons of soybeans, which represented an increase of 33% compared to 2019.
At the three public berths of the Export Corridor at the Port of Paranagua, only corn was exported during January, but from February through May, soybeans and soybean meal dominated. During the first five months of 2020, grain exports increased 70% compared to the first five months of 2019 increasing from 4.29 million tons in 2019 to 7.28 million tons in 2020. Just in May alone, the Export Corridor exported 1.95 million tons of soybeans which is up 248% compared to the 561,284 tons exported in May of 2019.
Soybean meal exports also registered increases as well. During the first five months of 2020 there has been 2 million tons of soybean meal exports compared to 1.8 million tons in May of 2019. In May of this year, soybean meal exports increased 76% compared to May of 2019.
The Port of Paranagua is unique in Brazil in that all three public berths have the capacity to load grain at the same time from different grain terminals including: AGTL, Cargill, Centro Sul, Cimbesul, Coamo, Cotriguacu, Interalli, Louis Dreyfus, and Rocha. In addition to the Export Corridor, there are also smaller private berths operating at the port as well.
The port has invested heavily in recent years to increase the efficiency and the volume of grain exports with proven results. During May of 2020, there were 39 vessels loaded at the Export Corridor compared to 22 vessels in May of 2019. The time required to load a vessel fell from 2.9 days in 2019 to 2.2 days in 2020. The volume of grain moved through the Export Corridor increased from 801 tons per hour in 2019 to 1,138 tons per hour in 2020.