ABR-LOG event mobilizes logistics companies in Santos (SP)

Representatives of more than 15 companies, which have backport terminals working on cotton stuffing and export companies (trading companies), in the port of Santos, filled the auditorium of the Santos Commercial Association this week at an event promoted by the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers (Abrapa), together with the National Association of Cotton Exporters, within the scope of the ABR-LOG program. The reason for the meeting was to gain acceptance from the terminals to participate in the initiative, which focuses on improving and standardizing processes in the last link of the cotton production chain, before shipment to destination countries. ABR-LOG's emphasis is on sustainability (environmental, social and governance), with an additional focus on quality, ensuring the integrity and good presentation of cotton bales upon delivery to the buyer.

According to Abrapa, ensuring the standardization of processes and the consequent improvement in the conservation status of bales strengthens Brazilian competitiveness in a market in which Brazil has begun to stand out more significantly in recent years. Before, the country was a second-half exporter, and the market for the entire volume shipped was certain. In the 2023/2024 harvest, with production estimated at 3,66 million tons of processed cotton, around 2,8 million tons (Anea) are expected to leave the country and go to the international industry, which is mostly Asian.

“After supplying Brazilian spinning mills, which consume 700 to 750 thousand tons, all this surplus needs to find a market, and the product flow takes practically the entire year. In the dispute for the buyer with the United States, Australia and West Africa, every detail counts, and ABR-LOG takes care of this, by raising the standard of procedures at this stage of logistics”, explains Marcio Portocarrero, executive director of Abrapa.

Expanded concept

ABR-LOG was launched in 2023 by Abrapa and Anea, as part of a larger program, Cotton Brazil, to promote Brazilian cotton in the foreign market. This umbrella, in addition to the two associations, is part of the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil). According to Abrapa's Sustainability manager, Fábio Carneiro, this is an extension of the concept of Responsible Brazilian Cotton (ABR), of sustainability certification on farms, which, in turn, was previously derived from ABR-UBA, whose target are the Cotton Processing Units, and, since last year, in ABR-LOG.

“With these programs, in addition to expanding and ensuring sustainability in operations in very important links in the fiber chain, we add more value to Brazilian cotton in an aspect that is very tangible, the appearance of the bales. Tears and dirt can lead to fiber contamination and compromise the work carried out in the field, in cotton processing units in Brazil and laboratories”, says the manager. He reveals that the goal for this year is for 50% of the harvest to be stewed in terminals certified by the program. “We launched the program aiming for 30%, and, in August, during certification, we exceeded our plans,” he says.

Last year, the first certified companies were S. Magalhães & Essemaga – which had its terminals in Alemoa and Guarujá approved by the program –, Hipercon Terminais de Carga, in Santos, and Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), with a terminal in Cubatão/SP. Subsequently, the companies Brado, in Rondonópolis/MT, and Tecon Salvador, in the capital of Bahia, were also certified. All companies underwent a third-party audit, in the 2023/2024 commercial period, the company Control Union was accredited as the responsible by ABR-LOG audits. The same audit will be responsible for certifications in 2024/2025.

According to the president of Anea, Miguel Faus, at this stage of ABR-LOG, attention turns to the Port of Santos, which accounts for 97% of cotton shipments in Brazil. “To give you an idea, our biggest competitor, the United States – which today produces practically the same as Brazil and exports more – ships its product through five ports. Here, practically, we only have Santos and yet we have managed to break monthly records in shipments,” he says. Faus adds that entities and the government have been working to find viable alternatives to distribute the amount exported. “In this very tight market, we have to differentiate ourselves, not only in the quality of the feather and its sustainability, but in shipments, punctuality, and the appearance of the bales. To do this we have to involve the entire chain,” he explained.

In his speech during the ceremony, the director of the Santos Commercial Association, Eduardo Lopes, highlighted the importance of agriculture for the Port of Santos. “Last year, Santos handled approximately 173 million tons. There were 130 million for export and 43 for import. And the major chains responsible were agribusiness. The Port of Santos is a leader, including worldwide, in the movement of soybeans, corn, cotton, coffee, orange juice, cellulose and a series of other products. And with regard to the import itself of these 40 million tons that Brazil imported, 10 and a half million tons were raw materials, they were fertilizers, for fertilizers precisely to be used in agriculture”