More than half of coffee export ships delay shipments in May

In May 2024, 216 coffee export ships, or 54% of the total of 402 container ships, were delayed or changed calls in Brazil's main ports. The longest period recorded, 24 days between the opening of the first and the last deadline, was recorded in the terminals in Rio de Janeiro (RJ). The data appears in the Detention Zero Bulletin (DTZ), prepared by ElloX Digital in partnership with the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council (Cecafé).

At the Port of Santos (SP), the main outlet for the product in Brazil, the highest percentage of delays was observed, at 78%, with 97 ships undergoing changes to their calls, with the longest period being 22 days.

Last month, only 9% of boarding procedures had a deadline of more than four days when the gate was open for ships at the Santos terminal, the lowest rate recorded since the beginning of the survey, in January 2023; 56% had between three and four days; and 35% had less than two days. Furthermore, 32 ships did not even have a gate opening in May.

"Santos has always stood out as the main exporter of Brazilian coffee in history, but the modest investments for shipments of containerized cargo were not enough to keep up with the evolution of Brazilian foreign trade, especially agribusiness, which results in a lack of physical spaces and port bottlenecks. From January to May 2024, for example, the São Paulo terminal accounted for 69,4% of coffee shipments abroad, the lowest rate in more than two decades", comments Eduardo Heron, technical director at Cecafé.

In the Rio de Janeiro port complex, the second largest coffee exporter in Brazil, representing 27,5% this year, the rate of vessel delays was 44% in May 2024, which involves 37 of the 84 ships destined for product shipments.

In the monthly compilation, 24% of export procedures had a deadline of more than four days of open gate by container ships in the ports of Rio de Janeiro; 41% had between three and four days; and 35% had less than two days.

"These results in the two main coffee exporting complexes in Brazil reinforce the infrastructure limitations and the lack of physical spaces in the ports of Santos and Rio de Janeiro, contributing to ship delays and changes in deadlines. This generates extra and unforeseen costs to exporting companies with additional storage and detentions. It is worth highlighting, however, that these limitations, which reduce the dynamics and speed of cargo movement, are also observed in several other ports in Brazil, which overloads and contributes to delays in ports. main coffee shipping ports", analyzes Cecafé's technical director.

Heron adds that, due to this scenario of high expenses for Brazilian coffee exporters, the entity has intensified dialogues with maritime transporters, terminals and, in São Paulo, with the Santos Port Authority, aiming to improve processes in coffee shipments to try to find solutions that reduce these threats.

“We noticed great interest from the Santos Port Authority in maintaining dialogue and searching for solutions that reduce these risks, but deeper reflection and expansion of the debate are necessary, because the Santos port has been showing signs of exhaustion. When we consider the scenario predicted for the second half of the year, with greater movement of containerized cargo, we believe that the challenges will be even greater, since there is not the capacity and adequate contingent to give peace of mind to Brazilian foreign trade”, he concludes.