The performance of cargo handling in July and the cumulative total for the first seven months of the year at the Port of Santos achieved significant growth rates. Showing continuous growth for the year-to-date, the port totaled 95.5 million tons, a 7.3% increase, the highest mark for this period. The July result totaled 14.5 million tons (the best mark for this month), 15.3% above the same period in 2021.

Exports accounted for the largest share of this volume, totaling 69.7 million tons (+8.6%), and imports reached 25.7 million tons (+4.0%). Corn was the standout in cargo handling, totaling 2.3 million tons in the month (+104%) and 4.1 million tons in the year-to-date through July (+132%).

Containerized cargo also grew by double digits (+10.9%) in July, totaling 440.7 thousand TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), the second-highest historical mark and the highest for the month, and 2.8 million TEUs in the first seven months, an increase of 1.6%.

Year-to-date, notable shipments also included:

• Soy complex (soybeans and soybean meal), with 28.4 million tons (+10.3%);
• Pulp, with 4.6 million tons (+59.9%);
• Meat, with 1.3 million tons (+36.1%);
• Diesel oil and gasoil, with 1.3 million tons (+23.7%).

Fertilizer discharges totaled 4.8 million tons (+17.3%).

Other July Figures

In July, the Port of Santos also saw notable shipments of sugar, with 2.1 million tons (+9.2%); pulp, with 688.0 thousand tons (+57.5%); and diesel oil and gasoil, with 163.9 thousand tons (+21.9%).

In discharges, highlights included salt, with 95.1 thousand tons (+184.9%), and wheat, with 117.1 thousand tons (+42.2%). Ship traffic also grew, with 465 berthings in July (+16.0%) and 3,007 for the year-to-date (+5.2%).

Solid bulk cargo totaled 49.4 million tons for the year-to-date (the best mark for the period), an increase of 9.9%. Soybeans accounted for 51.2% of this volume; sugar, 20.2%; soybean meal, 11.9%; and corn, 9.2%.

Liquid bulk cargo reached 11.0 million tons, a growth of 3.5%, also the best mark for the period. In this segment, diesel oil and gasoil accounted for 24.2%; fuel oil, 18.7%; citrus juices, 13.5%; caustic soda, 8.6%; gasoline, 6.9%; and alcohol, 4.5%.

The Port of Santos’ share in Brazilian foreign trade reached 28.9% in July (US$ 100.796 million). Of the national foreign trade transactions that passed through the port during the period, 31.3% had China as a partner country. São Paulo remained the state with the largest share (52.7%) in foreign trade transactions through the Santos port complex.