Two soyabean cargoes have recently departed from a new terminal in northeast Brazil operated by VLI and local trader Multigrain, the latest option in the region as exporters look for alternatives to Brazil's overcrowded southern ports. A third ship carrying 27,800 tonnes of soya contracted by Multigrain is anchored in the Barra dos Coqueiros terminal in Sergipe state, according to shipping agencies and Thomson Reuters data.
The first known soya terminal in Sergipe will export just 150,000 tonnes of soya per year, but it is part of a broader trend to increase capacity and cut costs for exporters in Brazil by developing new shipping routes closer to the Panama Canal. International giants like Glencore, Louis Dreyfus, Bunge Ltd and ADM have inaugurated terminals in the region in recent years, as Brazil, the world's No 2 soya producer, harvests consecutive record crops.
In May, the first ship left Barra dos Coqueiros for Russia, carrying 28,700 tonnes of soya. A second cargo, of 26,000 tonnes, was exported in July for Mitsui. Both carried non genetically modified soya. Barras dos Coqueiros, also known as the Maritime Terminal Inacio Barbosa, consists of a concrete pier installed over two kilometers into the sea, protected by a breakwater. "We started discussing the project with Multigrain some two years ago to export non genetically modified soyabeans from western Bahia," Fabiano Lorenzi, commercial director of VLI, told Reuters.
He said VLI is the terminal operator while Multigrain holds exclusivity in the origination of soyabeans exported. VLI's stakeholders are miner Vale (37.6 percent), Brookfield (26.6 percent), Japan's Mitsui (20 percent) and FI-FGTS (15.9 percent). Mitsui has since 2011 controlled Multigrain, which did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The terminal had previously moved cargo like urea and cement and received support vessels for oil rigs operating in the region. Multigrain invested 15 million reais ($4.5 million) to adapt the terminal for soya export. The terminal aims to export 150,000 tonnes of soyabeans this year, and increase that amount "a little" in coming years, Lorenzi said. Buyers are normally willing to pay slightly more for conventional soyabeans, but the soya must be kept separate from the GMO variety. Nearly all the soya in Brazil, the world's No 2 soyabean producer, is GMO. Just 6.5 percent of the record 2014/15 crop was conventional, according to consultancy Celeres.
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