According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), this year, soybean exports from Brazil are expected to reach 44 million tons compared to 40.1 million tons from the U.S. Brazil is currently working to extend that lead be creating a route through the Amazon forest from the interior of the country to the Panama Canal and on to Asian buyers. Currently much of Brazil’s soybeans must be transported by truck over 1,000 miles from Mato Grosso to ports in the southeast that do not have the capacity to handle the volume. Exporters spend $150 per ton to transport soybeans from Mato Grosso to port – four times that in the U.S. Traders from ADM, to Bunge to Cargill are spending $2.5 billion on docks, barge fleets, and terminals along the Amazon River and its tributaries. According to the head of the Tapajos Terminals Association, the new infrastructure will boost shipping capacity by 30 million metric tons by 2017. In 2014 the government expects 450 miles of paved roads linking Mato Grosso to Miritituba, a city on the Tapajos tributary of the Amazon River to be completed. From Miritituba barges will transport soybeans to ports such as Belem in the north over 715 miles of riverways. Other ports in northern Brazil such as Santarem and Santana are being prepared to handle Panamax vessels. By the end of 2014 their capacity to handle crops will likely double to 20 million tons, and reach 50 million tons by 2020. Overall the new route can cut logistics costs in the country in half and boost production in areas that today lack infrastructure. To read more about the investments and projects that ADM, Bunge, Glencore, CHS, INC. and Vanguarda Agro SA are developing to capitalize on Brazil’s new shipping route:
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