MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Parana river insufficient water level benefitted exports from Brazilian ports

With the historic fall in the level of the Paraná River, ships leaving Argentina, have had to set sail with a smaller volume loaded, in order not to run aground

Due to the Paraná river drought, which affected Argentina’s soy oil-exporting capacity, Cattalini Terminais Marítimos, which handles almost 70% of Brazil’s soy oil exports through its facilities in the port of Paranaguá, predicts a 25% increase in shipments this year.

With the historic fall in the level of the Paraná River this year, ships leaving Argentina, the largest global exporter of oil and soybean meal, have had to set sail with a smaller volume loaded, in order not to run aground. They often complete the shipment in Brazil.

According to Cattalini, Covid-19’s negative impact on Brazilian diesel demand also reduced the need for biodiesel, increasing the exportable surplus of soy oil, the main raw material for bio-fuel mixed using a 12% ratio in Brazil’s fossil fuel.

Through the Cattalini facilities, the main Brazilian multinational traders and producer cooperatives are expected to export 850,000 tons of soy oil in 2020, versus 672,000 in 2019.

Abiove, (Brazilian association of vegetable oils' industries), in its last estimate for the current year, increased the volume to be shipped by Brazil from 200,000 tons, to 1 million tons. Among the main destinations for Brazil’s soy oil are India and China.

In addition to soybean oil, Brazil’s other grain exports have also benefited from the low level of the Paraná River, which led some buyers to switch the origin of their purchases this year.