Brazil's main port of Santos moved 6.56 million tonnes of cargo in April, its best performance of 2006 and up 13.4 percent from the same month of 2005, the Port Authority Codesp said on Tuesday.
Codesp said that total imports during the month rose 22.1 percent against the same month a year ago, while exports grew 10.2 percent on the year. For the first four months of 2006, imports grew 5.2 percent and exports grew 2.4 percent.
April soybean exports were in the spotlight. Santos, the country's No 1 soybean port, shipped 1.34 million tonnes of beans for the month, up 53.7 percent from April the year before.
Santos soyameal exports, however, fell 27.1 percent to 228,122 tonnes in April compared with a year ago. Sugar was the second biggest farm commodity moving through the port during the month with exports down 22.2 percent at 707,653 tonnes in April. Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of sugar.
The port's April coffee shipments were up a stunning 119.5 percent at 126,647 tonnes. Meat exports fell 29.2 percent to 50,494 tonnes, reflecting curbs by importing countries due to foot-and-mouth disease in Brazil. Orange juice exports were nearly unchanged from April, 2005, at 163,823 tonnes.
Ethanol exports were down 59.8 percent at 27,700 tonnes. Wheat imports rose 30.7 percent to 104,613 tonnes in April against the month a year ago. Container movement through the port was up 11.7 percent at 128,358 units for the month against April last year. Santos accounted for 26 percent of Brazil's trade balance during April.
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