The Port of Paranaguá, on the coast of Brazil, serves as the primary gateway for soybean shipments, with China absorbing 91.8% of the commodity's exports. According to federal government data (Comex Stat), between January and March of this year, 3,208,185 tons of soybeans left the port bound for the Asian country. This figure marks a 105% increase compared to the same period last year (1,563,276 tons).
From 2023 to 2024, the Port of Paranaguá also climbed from third to second place in national soybean movement destined for the Orient giant (20%), trailing only Santos (42.4%), representing a total of US$6.7 billion under the FOB mode (where the buyer assumes all risks and transportation costs).
"Even with the decrease in Brazil's crop, the ports in Paraná continue to handle shipments with greater efficiency, meeting the significant Chinese demand for this product. In the first quarter, we recorded a historic overall movement, with a large portion destined for Asia, demonstrating the excellence of the ports in operational dynamics," highlighted Luiz Fernando Garcia, CEO of Portos do Paraná.
In addition to the logistical strategy of Paraná ports, smaller harvests in other countries may have influenced the increase in soybean movement. In Argentina, there was a reduction in productivity in the 2022/2023 agricultural cycle.
"Argentina is the world's third-largest soybean producer, after Brazil and the United States, and this impacts the global market in terms of supply, product availability, and price. During this period, Brazil had a very interesting crop, a record crop in 2022/2023, of 150 million tons of soybeans, filling the gap left by Argentina," explained Giovani Ferreira, an economist from the Board of Directors of Portos do Paraná (Consad).
According to him, the expected soybean crop for Argentina this year is around 50 million tons, while Brazil's is expected to be 146 million tons. "Brazil's exports to China will continue to grow, but going forward, perhaps the factor will not necessarily be the decline in Argentina, but rather an organic growth in Chinese demand," he added. Another reason lies in the strengthening of bilateral trade between Brazil and China compared to negotiations between China and the United States.
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