February 22, 2012

Brazil to build new seaport for soy export

The port authorities of Brazil are studying the building of a new port in the Amazon region, which would become the main exit route for the domestic soy, according to report from the Folha de Sao Paulo on Saturday (Feb 18).

The port of Outeiro, due to be built near Belém, the largest city in Brazil's Amazon region, will have an initial capacity of 18 million tonnes per year, exceeding the 16.8 million ton capacity of the port of Santos and of 14.8 million of the port of Paranaguá, also according to Folha de São Paulo.

The newspaper also said that the auction for the sale of the right to build and operate the port, the first phase of which is expected to cost BRL660 million (US$382 million) would be held this year, so that the port could start operating in 2014.

The port would be cheaper to use for producers in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso, Goiás, Pará, Tocantins and Maranhão as well as for those from the Cerrado, Amazonas and Northeast regions.

Brazilian farmers have to pay US$85 per ton to get their soy to market or to its exit port as compared to the US$20 that it costs in Argentina or the US.

Despite this disadvantage, Brazil is currently the world's second-biggest soy exporter and is expected to overtake the US this year, as each year it harvests 70 million tonnes of soy.