Brazilian Waterborne Trade Growth Slowed in 2012

Ports of Brazil WATERBORNE TRADE 2012 - 2010 Metric Tons
TRADE TYPE	Calendar Year			2012 versus
TRADE TYPE	2012	2011	2010	2011	2010
FOREIGN	670,253,686	658,095,639	616,089,467	1.8%	8.8%
Imports	144,822,121	143,347,478	126,800,275	1.0%	14.2%
Exports	525,431,565	514,748,161	489,289,192	2.1%	7.4%
CABOTAGE	201,015,907	193,469,337	185,822,682	3.9%	8.2%
INLAND NAVIGATION	29,894,867	31,638,112	28,382,719	-5.5%	5.3%
MARITIME SUPPORT	1,528,239	1,520,588	2,112,012	0.5%	-27.6%
PORT SUPPORT	1,072,775	1,331,601	1,528,855	-19.4%	-29.8%
TOTAL CARGO	903,765,474	886,055,277	833,935,735	2.0%	8.4%
Source: Agência Nacional de Transportes Aquaviários(ANTAQ), Anuário Estatístico Aquaviário 2012-2010

Dry bulksincreased by 2.0 percent in 2012, a reflection of foreign demand, particularly from China, for iron ore, soybeans, sugar, alumina, manganese and other Brazilian resources and products. During the past decade, drybulk carge tonnage grew by an average 6.0 percent annually and last year accounted for more than 61 percent of Brazil’s total waterborne cargo by volume.

Liquid bulks, much of it crude oil and petroleum products, posted a year-to-year increase of 2.3 percent. With the exploitation of huge offshore petroleum reserves and other energy producing resources such as ethanol, Brazil is becoming a major player in the international bulk liquid trades.

Brazil’sgeneral cargo tradeset a record in 2012, but volume at 132.4 million tons was up just 1.3 percent, a significant drop from the 9.7 percent annual growth rate of the previous 10 years. Containerized cargoaccounted for all of last year’s growth, up 2.9 percent to 87.3 million tons.Breakbulk cargoesdeclined in total tonnage, reflecting reduced demand for the still substantial quantities of steel and wood products handled at Brazilian ports.

Thefirst attachment provides additional detail on Brazilian port cargo traffic trends for the years 2002 through 2012. Brazil’s top waterborne export and import commodities are profiled in thesecond attachment.

The Far East/India was Brazil’s leading ocean cargo market in 2012, accounting for 58 percent of its dry bulk cargo, 29 percent of its breakbulk cargo, 33 percent of its containerized cargo and 51 percent of its oceanborne trade overall. As shown in thethird attachment, the Canadian/U.S. East Coast and the Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico ranked third and fourth, respectively in container cargo and fourth and sixth in total trade among Brazil’s international regional markets.

The privately owned iron ore exporting ports of Tubarão (110.3 million tons) and Ponta da Madeira (105.0 million tons) led the nation in total tonnage and dry bulk cargo. First and second in liquid bulks were maritime terminals operated by the national petroleum company, Petrobras – Almirante Barroso in São Sebastião (50.5 million tons) and Almirante Maximiliano da Fonseca in Angra dos Reis (36.6 million tons).

Santos stood third nationally in total volume (90.7 million tons) and first in containerized cargo (31.3 million tons). Tops in breakbulk were Portacel (a privately owned port specializing in pulp) and the steel loading port of Praia Mole.

It was a solid year for Brazilian container traffic, with throughput up 3.2 percent to a record high of just under 8.2 million TEUs. Santos remained the nation’s dominant container handler, with a 36 percent market share, followed by Paranguá, Portonovo/Navagantes, Rio Grande and Rio de Janeiro. It was also the first full year of operation for a private venture container terminal in Itapóa. For rankings of Brazil’s leading container and general cargo ports, refer to thefourth attachment.