The Port of Santos, located in the city that goes by the same name in the coast of southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo, was the port that shipped most goods to the Arab countries between the months of January and November this year.
Goods valued at US$ 2.1 billion passed through the terminal directed to the Arab countries in North Africa and the Middle East. In terms of volume, shipments reached 5.3 million tons.
"It is the Brazilian port with greatest infrastructure," explains the secretary general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby.
The Port of Santos has 64 private terminals and total area of 7.7 million square kilometers. It answered to 44.7% of the total of Brazilian exports to the Arab countries, which totaled US$ 4.7 billion up to November.
Shipments to the Arab market via Santos increased in 32% in value in relation to the first eleven months last year, but dropped 2.7% in volume. Between January and December 2004, through the Port of Santos passed 5.4 million tons of goods to the countries in the region, which yielded to the exporting companies US$ 1.5 billion.
The Port was the terminal that most represented exports from Brazil to the Arabs in revenue, but was the second in terms of volume, since the Port of Vitória, in the state of Espírito Santo, also in the southeast of Brazil, shipped nine million tons to the region. The difference may be explained by the type of products exported.
While from Santos the main shipments were of agricultural products, manufactured goods and vehicles, from Vitória iron ore represented almost all exports.
"Ore doesn’t have added value," explains Alaby. Vitória also shipped products like paper, but in small volumes. Of the total exported by the port in Espírito Santo, 97% was iron ore.
Port of Brazil
The performance of the Santos port follows that of exports from São Paulo, the state that has greatest revenue with sales to the Arab countries.
The terminal, however, ships also products from other states, since while shipments to the Arabs from the Port of Santos between January and November added up to US$ 2.1 billion, exports from the state of São Paulo in the period were of US$ 1.9 billion in the period.
In other words, at least US$ 156 million in goods shipped through Santos came from other regions in Brazil.
"The majority of exports come from São Paulo, but the whole country pass through Santos," says Alaby.
In the list of Brazilian port terminals that ship to the Arab world the most are, in order, apart from Santos and Vitória, the Port of Paranaguá, in state of Paraná, of Rio Grande, in Rio Grande do Sul, and of Itajaí, in Santa Catarina, all three states in the southern region of Brazil.
This year, a total of 72.2 million tons is set to pass through the Port of Santos, according to forecasts made by Codesp, the Santos Port Authority, which manages the terminal.
Between January and October 61.2 million tons were shipped or received through Santos, of which 43.2 million corresponded to exports. There was an increase in 6.5% in traffic.
The main products exported were sugar, soy and soy products, as well as fuel oil. In the list of imported goods, the main ones were coal, fertilizers, sulfur and wheat. Through the port passed 4,587 ships and the movement of containers reached 1.23 million units.
Anba – www.anba.com.br