BRASILIA: Brazil’s Santos port has been unable to export 400,000 tonnes of soybeans and soymeal as firefighters battle a week-old blaze that has restricted truck access to much of the country’s largest export hub, soy industry association Abiove said.
That is about four days worth of typical shipments for April, which averages about 3 million tonnes for the month, Abiove General Secretary Fábio Trigueirinho said, adding that costs to hold a ship idle run roughly $25,000 a day. Santos moves a third of the country’s soybean exports.
Spread out over the seven ships required to haul 400,000 tonnes of soy, the delay could cost exporters almost $700,000.
The timing is particularly crucial as the world’s No. 2 soybean producer harvests a record crop and exporters prepare to fill orders to China, which consumes about 70 percent of the country’s output.
Competition for business is keen as the United States and Argentina are also producing bumper crops, putting prices under pressure.
Even so, Abiove President Carlo Lovatelli said soybean orders from China had not eased due to the fire because Brazil is the top global supplier this time of year.
Although authorities are restricting truck access to the Santos side of the port, the Guaruja side of the port’s channel is unaffected and loading bulk cargoes such as soy and sugar normally. Trains are also able to access the Santos side of the port to deliver grains and sugar.
The southern port of Paranagua, which recently installed faster shiploaders, could absorb additional soy volumes if problems at Santos carry on much longer, Trigueirinho said.
“We had some stock at the beginning, but now it is really a problem,” he said.
Ultracargo, a unit of Brazilian chemical and fuel-distribution company Grupo Ultra, said on Thursday that one of its six fuel tanks at a facility near the port was still on fire.
Highway police escorted about 800 trucks through the blocked entrance between 10pm and 4am local time (0100 to 0700 GMT), but access was restricted again in the morning while firefighters continued their work.
Trigueirinho said a terminal operated by Archer Daniels Midland Co was particularly affected. Abiove had asked port authorities open an alternate road to allow some trucks access to the terminal during the day.
