Brazil's main port of Santos moved 7.4 million tonnes of cargo in August, up 14 percent from the same month in 2005, the Port Authority Codesp said on Friday. The port accounted for 25.9 percent of Brazil's international trade in August.
Codesp said total imports during the month rose 33 percent against the same month a year ago, while exports rose 6 percent on the year. For the first eight months of 2006, imports grew nearly 8.8 percent while exports grew only 0.2 percent.
Santos, the country's No 1 soybean port, shipped 737,678 tonnes of beans in August, up 14.5 percent from a year ago. Sugar shipments, the biggest farm commodity moving through the port by volume, were down 2.9 percent on the year at 1.26 million tonnes. Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of sugar.
The port's August coffee shipments were up 25.9 percent at 66,977 tonnes. And ethanol exports were up 97.8 percent at 258,034 tonnes. The port's soymeal exports rose 28.2 percent to 256,577 tonnes in August, compared with a year ago. Meat exports fell 20.3 percent to 64,997 tonnes and orange juice exports were down nearly 2.7 percent in August, at 141,736 tonnes.
Wheat imports rose 11.3 percent to 151,433 tonnes in August against the month a year ago. Container movement through the port fell 2.7 percent to 129,195 units for the month against August last year.
The United States, Germany and China were the leading three origins of imports into Santos, while the United States, Argentina and Germany were the top destinations for exports from the port.