Belem (Port)

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Soy loadings delayed at Brazil northern ports

At least 11 ships are facing delays in loading soybeans at Brazil’s northern ports after rains washed out roads and disrupted the progress of trucks carrying beans from the centre-west region, Brazilian officials said. Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said some commodities traders could have problems fulfilling soy export contracts due to the transportation problems. But authorities said emergency work on BR-163, the main road linking the soy fields in Mato Grosso to northern export terminals, has allowed trucks to start resuming their trips. Thousands of soy-filled trucks have been stuck in mud in recent days as torrential rains damaged an unpaved stretch of the road. The washout has been a major setback for companies operating this relatively new route for Brazilian soy exports. Historically, traders would use roads to the southern ports of Santos and Paranagua, but recent investments in port terminals to the north have been aimed at cutting transportation costs. All major traders including Bunge, Cargill and Amaggi have operations using the new route, with trucks taking BR-163 to a terminal in the Miritituba district in Para state. From there, barges carry beans down the Tapajos river to ports in the Belem area for loading on transoceanic ships. “Some traders will probably have to source soy elsewhere to fulfill their export contracts,” Maggi told reporters Thursday. He said some 600,000 tonnes of soybeans had already been diverted to southern ports after issues with the northern route. http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/soy-loadings-delayed-at-brazil-northern-ports/

ADM gets final approval for northern Brazil grains terminal use

The Brazilian arm of U.S. commodities trader Archer Daniels Midland Co received final government approval to ship soybeans and corn from its new terminal at the mouth of the Amazon, Brazil’s official gazette said. The terminal outside Belem in Para state will have an initial annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of grain and will expand to 6 million tonnes per year by 2016, taking pressure off Brazil’s crowded southern shipping routes. “The first trucks are already unloading soy,” ADM said in a statement. Of the initial volume, 80 percent will move on waterways, mostly from Porto Velho, Rondonia, in Brazil’s interior. The rest will be trucked in until a railway is finished. The company said the new route will shave 34 percent off its freight costs from shipping out of Brazil’s main port of Santos, thousands of kilometers south. ADM received approval for terminal use from waterway regulator Antaq last month in what it said was the first contract awarded under Brazil’s new port law, which was passed in 2013 in an attempt to draw more private investment.

Brazil Govt. planning giant Amazon soybean export port near Belem

As Reuters reports, the proposed 18 million-tonne-a-year Port of Outeiro would be built near Belem, the largest city in Brazil's Amazon region. It is designed to surpass the 16.8 million tonnes grains capacity of the Port of Santos, and the 14.8 million tonnes capacity of the Port of Paranagua, the paper said. An auction to sell rights to build and operate the port's 660-million-real ($382 million) first phase could be held as early as late 2012, the paper reported. It could begin operation in 2014, Folha said.