Rare U.S. soybean cargo unloading at Paranaguá, port authority says

Avalon Advanced Materials

04/12/2020 15:17

By Ana Mano
    SAO PAULO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - A ship carrying 30,500 tonnes
of U.S. soybeans was unloading its rare cargo on Friday after
getting all regulatory permissions and docking at one of
Paranaguá's berths, according to a spokeswoman for the port
authority. 
    Brazil, a net food exporter, sold so much of its soybeans to
China, that little was left to process internally during the
inter-harvest period. A weak exchange rate contributed to this
year's export bonanza.
    "Brazil is a giant in the production of soybeans, but the
price of the product in the international market, combined with
a favorable exchange rate, meant that practically all production
was sold abroad," Luiz Fernando Garcia, chief executive of the
company that operates the port, said in a statement on Thursday.
"As a result, it was necessary to import the grain to meet
domestic demand.” 
    The Discoverer vessel is expected to unload the U.S. soy at
a rate of 6,000 tonnes per day. It was chartered by Louis
Dreyfus Co  LOUDR.UL , which declined to comment on the
commercial transaction. 
    Brazilian farmers are planting their 2020/2021 soy crop now
and will start harvesting it around mid-January. 
    The government expects Brazil to produce almost 135 million
tonnes this season  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS0N2GW035, but dry weather in key planting
regions, as well as strong demand from China, means supplies
will continue to be tight, analysts say.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2HZ2DT
    According to government data collated by the Paranaguá port
authority, Brazil imported 625,000 tonnes of soybeans in the
first 10 months of the year, the most since 2003, with the bulk
coming from neighboring Paraguay.
    On Oct. 16, Brazil temporarily suspended import duties on
soybeans from countries outside the Mercosur trade bloc. 
    There have been no inbound soy cargos at Paranaguá over the
past 10 years, the port authority said.

 (Reporting by Ana Mano
Editing by Marguerita Choy)
 ((ana.mano@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +55-11-5644-7704; Mob:
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