Brazilian Port to Set Tonnage Record
Brazil's main Port of Santos will surpass its 2013 record of 114 million tons by year’s end as the favorable exchange rate has sparked exports reports Codesp, a state-run agency.
Codesp said the depreciation of the real against the dollar favored the export of agricultural commodities. The real is down 32 percent against the dollar in 2015.
Cargo throughput for Santos during the first nine months of the year was 88.6 million tons, up by 7% . Exports grew by 11 percent to nearly 64 million tons. Meanwhile, Imports were down four percent, ber from a year ago at 2.7 million tons and are down three percent since the start of 2015 by 24.7 million tons.
The rise in exports and drop in imports through the country's main port underscores the deepening economic crisis here as well as the government's hopes that an improved trade surplus will help to lessen the deficit in public accounts.
Long haul container movement, which accounts for 20 percent of movement through Santos, was up two percent from the January-September period of last year.
Santos accounted for 27 percent of Brazil's total trade balance so far this year. Exports from Santos amounted to $37.5 billion compared with $144.5 billion nationally. And imports totaled $38 billion of Brazil's total $134 billion.
China accounted for 16.1 percent of Santos trade, followed by the United States at 13.5 percent.