In July, the Port of Santos, Brazil, posted a new monthly record for traffic, reporting a volume of 16.3 million tonnes. This was an increase of 6.9% compared to July 2023, when it handled 15.3 million tonnes. As for the year as a whole, traffic amounted to 105.5 million tonnes for the first seven months, equivalent to growth of 9.7%, which was also a record.
And it was agribulk traffic that led the charge, especially sugar and soybeans. In January – July, the port handled 14.8 million tonnes of the former, up 43.1%, while the latter reached 26.2 million tonnes, albeit down 2% on the year, although up 18.4% in July.
Other commodities performed well too:
- Coffee bean shipments of 197,900 tonnes in July was a 49% hike over July 2023. The annual figure of 1.4 million tonnes represents growth of 60%.
- Pulp increased by 35% in July, with 661,000 tonnes, and grew by 7.9% on the year to 4.5 million tonnes.
- Inbound fertiliser traffic performed well in July, rising 37.8% to 725.900 tonnes, although is down by 4% on the year at four million tonnes.
So, for the first seven months of 2024, dry bulk traffic at the port amounted to 54.7 million tonnes, up 3.6%.
In terms of commodities, soybeans accounted for 51.1% of the total, sugar 22.5%, pelleted soybeans 10.7%, fertiliser 7.2% and corn 2.6%.