Brazil's Santos port handles record cargo

Brazil's main port of Santos moved a record amount of goods in the first seven months of 2004 due to increased exports, mostly soya and sugar, the Port Authority said on Tuesday.
Latin America's largest port moved 39 million tonnes of goods from January through July, 16.3 percent up from the 33.6 million tonnes during the same period of 2003. While imports rose 5.5 percent year on year to 12.5 million tonnes, exports jumped 22.2 percent to 26.6 million tonnes.
Soybean exports edged up 1.4 percent in the January to July period to 4.5 million tonnes and sugar exports rose 33 percent to 5.2 million tonnes. Soyameal exports jumped 69.6 percent to 2.3 million tonnes.
Ethanol exports rose 40 percent to 509,833 tonnes between January and July, making it one of the top eight exports. In July, 76,017 tonnes were shipped, up 122.7 percent on a year ago.
In July, the port moved a record 6.3 million tonnes, up 3.8 percent from the same month last year, with exports up 9.4 percent at 4.4 million tonnes and imports down 7.5 percent at 1.9 million tonnes.
July sugar exports fell 5.8 percent to 1.1 million tonnes, but soya meal shipments leaped 105 percent to 421,936 tonnes and soyabean shipments fell 27.7 percent to 499,030 tonnes.
Wheat imports plunged 52.1 percent to 90,832 tonnes and are now less important than coal, fertilisers and salt.
The movement of goods through the port grew 12.4 percent in 2003, the second largest annual growth in the past 15 years. The port expects to move a record 68 million tonnes of cargo in 2004, up 14 percent from the previous record of 60.1 million tonnes in 2003, the Port Authority added.
Sugar vessels
SAO PAULO: The line-up of vessels to load sugar in Brazil's ports decreased to 48 from 49 last week, shipping agent Williams said Thursday.
In a weekly report, Williams said 38 vessels were lined up in the southern port of Santos, down from 40 last week. At Paranagua there were four ships which was the same as last week, and at Vitoria there were three, up from one last week.
Santos accounted for 84 percent of the sugar tonnage being loaded in Brazil's ports, Paranagua garnered 8 percent and Vitoria had 5 percent.
Brazil's main center-south sugarcane region is at the peak of its harvest after being delayed by rain from May through July.