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A volume of 1,826 million bags of coffee – 5.534 containers – were stored in the main Brazilian ports without being able to be shipped in 2024, according to a survey carried out by the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council (Cecafé) together with associated companies. “The reason for these non-shipments was the high and constant delays and changes in the scale of export ships, in addition to frequent cargo rolls”, explains the technical director of the entity, Eduardo Heron.
He comments that these logistics obstacles at Brazilian ports caused a “port loss” of R$9,208 million to coffee exporters in December, due to extra costs with additional storage, detentions, pre-stacking and gate anticipation. From June – when Cecafé began the survey – to December 2024, the accumulated loss for exporters totaled R$51,540 million.
Taking into account an average Free on Board (FOB) export price of US$ 304,25 per bag (green coffee) and the average of R$ 6,0964 per dollar in December, the non-shipment of this coffee implies that Brazil failed to receive, in the 12 months of last year, US$ 555,62 million, or R$ 3,387 billion, as foreign exchange revenue.
According to Heron, logistical bottlenecks also cause losses to Brazilian coffee producers, most of whom are family farmers. Brazil is the country that transfers the FOB price of exports to its coffee growers the most, and the lack of shipment of the product, due to port infrastructure limitations, reduces the transfer of capital to them,” he explains.
On the side of the professionals who carry out the shipments, he says that coffee exporters continue to face intense logistical bottlenecks and make great efforts to consolidate the cargo due to the increase in shipments of products that use containers to package their cargo and the lack of adequate infrastructure for containerized cargo in Brazilian ports.
"The logistical problems and the losses that our exporters are accumulating demonstrate the exhaustion of the port structure and that investments are becoming increasingly urgent to expand yard and berth capacity, improve the conditions of highways, railways and waterways and deepen the draft to receive larger vessels," he analyzes.
He also notes that Cecafé has been leading, together with other foreign trade entities, the holding of dialogues with public authorities to seek solutions that reduce risks, minimize losses to exporters and enable a rapid improvement in the structure of ports.
"Our aim is to find measures that meet the growing potential of Brazilian agribusiness, providing greater efficiency and competitiveness to exporters and enabling agriculture to continue generating billions in foreign currency for the country's coffers," he says.
Last week, the Cecafé Logistics Committee met with the Director of Operations of the Port Authority of Santos (APS), Beto Mendes, and staff, continuing discussions related to the logistical challenges of coffee shipments through the port of Santos.
“We are pleased to learn that the APS has been following up on the issue of delays, monitoring the information that Cecafé releases monthly, as well as the fact that the Authority has been making efforts to improve the port structure, such as the planned investments in the third lane of the Imigrantes Highway, the deepening of the draft with the concession of the canal and the Tecon10 auction, which should take place in the second half of the year”, comments Heron.
According to the Cecafé director, Mendes also spoke about APS's involvement in the Port of Itajaí, where it took over operations due to its successful experience in managing the Santos docks. “The Authority's team is working hard to keep Santos fully operational, while maintaining ongoing dialogue so that Itajaí can help to ease the logistical burden in Brazil,” he added.
According to the Detention Zero Bulletin (DTZ), prepared by the startup ElloX Digital, 71% of the ships, or 206 of a total of 290 container ships, had delays or changes in scales that impacted the result of coffee exports, in the main ports of Brazil, in December of last year.
The longest waiting time in the month before last was 56 days, recorded at the largest port in the Southern Hemisphere, in Santos (SP). In addition, 40 ships did not even have their gates opened at the Santos dock.
According to data from the DTZ Bulletin, the Port of Santos, which accounted for 68% of coffee shipments in 2024, recorded an 84% rate of delays or changes in ship schedules in December, which involved 132 of the total 157 vessels.
Last month, only 9% of boarding procedures took more than four days for ships to open the gate at the Santos pier. Another 36% took between three and four days and 54% took less than two days.
The port complex of Rio de Janeiro (RJ), the second largest exporter of coffee in Brazil, with a 27,9% share of shipments in 2024, had a delay rate of 56% in December, with the longest interval being 35 days between the first and last deadline. This percentage implies that 32 of the 57 vessels destined for shipments of the product had their ports of call changed.
Also in the last month of last year, 34% of export procedures took more than four days for container ships to open their gates in Rio de Janeiro ports; 21% took between three and four days; and 45% took less than two days.
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