The main ports of Brazil’s northern arc, Santarém and Belém (PA), Itaqui, in São Luís, and Salvador, handled 4.4 million tons of fertilizers between January and June this year. The volume, which corresponded to 25% of all imports in the country in the period, is 39% higher than in the first half of 2021 “Such increase is directly related to the growth of soybean in Matopiba and in the north of the state of Mato Grosso”, said Luigi Bezzons, analyst at StoneX. The expansion of grain cultivation in these regions spurred structural changes in roads and ports. According to Bezzon, the increase in the number of trucks, for example, can change freight prices because the producer can send the grains to the port and bring fertilizer to the innermost region of the state when the vehicles make the second part of the round trip.
Sources: Valor/SIACESP (*Translated by Ia Niani)