Port movement in the 1st semester has the second best result in history

The National Water Transport Agency (Antaq) announced this Monday (15) that port handling of cargo in Brazil in the first half had the second best result in history, behind only the one recorded in the same period in 2021. In comparison, there was a drop of 3.3%.

According to Antaq’s superintendent José Neto, the sector is expected to grow in the second half of the year, with the possibility of moving 631 million tons in the second half of the year. This represents an increase of 2.9% compared to the last six months of the previous year.

The decrease in port movement in this first half compared to last year is due to a very strong basis for comparison, according to Antaq technicians.

The drop was highlighted as a result of the slowdown in the international market and the increase in inflation in the country.

segments

The numbers related to the agribusiness segments were the highlight in the first half of the year. The agricultural sector showed a 2.1% increase in cargo handling in the first half of the year.

The segments of oil, oil and gas (-6.6%); mining (-6.4%); and containers (-4.4%) fell.

“Fuel is still performing very well for the first half of 2022 in relation to the historical series. In addition, there was an oscillation in containers, but the category has shown a tendency to remain stable”, said Fernando Serra, superintendent of Antaq.

“The only part that is very affected is the part of minerals, mainly iron ore, which has been falling over time,” he added.

loads

Commodities such as iron ore, soybeans and oil led to a decrease in bulk handling, while cellulose led to a rise in “general cargo”.

Solid bulk (-4.4%), liquid bulk (-4.5%) and containers (-4.4%) had similar declines, around 4%. General cargo increased by 18.6% compared to the first half of 2021.

“The pulp market did not feel the impact of the pandemic, and Brazil is the second largest producer and the first exporter. It is an expanding market, which is allied to the paper used in packaging and hygiene products, which kept the sector warm. So, in terms of general cargo, we had a significant movement”, pointed out superintendent José Neto.

public ports

In public ports, only Santos (SP) and Itaqui (MA) recorded an increase in handling in the first half of the year, compared to the same period last year.

In the port of Santos, there were 62.6 million tons, up 5.6%.

In Itaqui, growth was 1.6%, with 15.7 million tons handled.

corn is featured

Despite the general movement of the port sector having registered a decrease in the first half of the year, the agricultural load showed a positive variation.

The highlight was corn, whose movement in the first six months, compared to the same period last year, grew 121%. Overall, agricultural cargo was up 2.1%, although soybean handling dropped 11.2%.

The expectation of Antaq is that the movement of corn remains in evidence in the second half.

Pulp was also a highlight among the highs, with growth of 27% in handling from January to June.

The product was responsible for boosting general cargo numbers, which rose 18.6%.

Antaq technicians pointed out that the pulp market did not feel the impacts of the pandemic, which favored movement in Brazil – the second largest producer in the world and the first in exports.

*With information from the State Agency