May 17, 2006

Brazilian farmers' protest affects soymeal delivery to Bunge's terminal

Soymeal could not be delivered to the Bunge terminal at the Ilheus port in Bahia, the principal soy-exit terminal in the state, as protesting farmers block soy transport to ports and to Bahia-based soy crushers, sources told Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday (May 16).

"Bunge cannot get soymeal to its terminal in Ilheus, and there is nothing left at the port for exporting soymeal at the moment," said Joao Carvalho, manager at Ilheus Maritime Agency in Bahia, a booking agency affiliated with Transcar Maritime Shipping Agency in Parana.

Bahia is the north-east Brazil's biggest soy-producing state and seventh in the nation. Carvalho said the situation could last all week, depending on the outcome of negotiations with farmers going on Tuesday in Brasilia.