Aug 17, 2017
41% of Mato Grosso's Soybeans Exported via Northern Port
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The state of Mato Grosso is Brazil's largest soybean and corn producing state and a record amount of soybean exports are leaving the state via ports in northern Brazil. According to the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea), soybean exports from the state between January and July of this year totaled 15.95 million tons.
The majority of the soybeans exports still went through the southern ports of Santos and Paranagua which accounted for 53% of the total exports. The soybeans that were shipped to the southern ports generally were produced the south-central and the southeastern part of the state. This is no surprise because the only railroad in Mato Grosso is located in the southeastern corner of the state. The Ferronorte Railroad goes about 150 miles into the state from the southeastern corner and terminates at the huge intermodal grain terminal at the city of Rondonopolis. The Ferronorte Railroad ends at the Port of Santos and it is the only railroad that services that port.
Most of the soybeans produced in the central and northern regions of the state are now being shipped north to ports on the Amazon River or along the northern Atlantic Coast. Approximately 41% of the state's soybean exports thus far this year have been exported out of northern ports. Central Mato Grosso is the largest soybean and corn producing region in the state.
The Port of Santarem, which is located on the Amazon River, and the Port of Barcarena, which is located near the city of Belem at the mouth of the Amazon River, handled 25% of the soybean exports from Mato Grosso. Some of the soybeans produced in the western part of the state were exported out of the Port of Porto Velho in the western Amazon and some of the soybeans produced in eastern Mato Grosso were exported out of the port in the city of Sao Luis along the northern Atlantic Coast.
As the logistics improve in the state, more of the grain will be exported out of the northern ports due to the lower transportation costs.