Low Water Levels in Northern Brazil Aggravating Port Congestion

There has been a lot of talk concerning low water levels at the “Northern Arc” of ports along the Amazon River in Brazil and congestion at Brazil’s southern ports. The amount of grain in barges and vessels at the northern ports is being reduced so they can make it through critical points where rivers are at their lowest. Grain exports from northern ports are being rerouted to crowed ports in southern Brazil that were already congested with record sugar exports. Southern Brazil has also been extremely wet in recent months which has slowed vessel loading and aggravated port congestion even more.

As a way to compare soybean and corn exports from northern and southern ports in Brazil, below is information from Agrinvest listing the principal export ports for soybeans and corn and the destination of soybeans and corn exports thus far in 2023. Ports in the “Northern Arc” of Brazilian ports are Santarem, Itacoatiara, Barcarena, and Itaqui. The destinations of the exports are in Portuguese, some country names are obvious, but some need to be translated, Ira=Iran, Turquia=Turkey, Tallandia=Thailand, Espanha=Spain, Argelia=Algeria, Egito=Egypt, Corela do Sul=South Korea, and Vietna=Vietnam.

Principal soybean export ports in 2023.

Principal destination of Brazil soybeans in 2023.

Principal corn export ports in 2023.

Principal destination of Brazil corn in 2023.

Tags: grain, Brazil, soybeans, ports, Amazon River, Northern Arc, low water levels, exports, corn