Port agency takes control of Paraná River network

IN BRIEF

CHINA: China plans to build 10.85M tonnes of storage capacity to increase grain stockpiling, World Grain reported on 12 July. Quoting Reuters’ citing of official media, the report said Sinograin would build 120 storage facilities in 18 provincial administrations this year.

Sinograin produces, processes, trades, stores and transports agricultural products including rice, soyabean, corn, raw sugar, soya meal and other bulk agricultural products.

The World Grain report said China had strengthened its focus on food security and had more than 650M tonnes of grain storage capacity. However, information about the state stockpile was usually difficult to obtain, according to Reuters.

ARGENTINA: Global agribusiness giant Louis Dreyfus Co (LDC) officially opened its US$2.7M expanded grains and oilseeds storage site in Campo Largo, Chaco province, World Grain reported on 7 July.

LDC said the new storage silos and rail bypass allowing the Belgrano Cargas line to enter the plant and transport agricultural products from northern Argentina to port complexes in Gran Rosario would provide more competitive logistics for the transport of soya, corn, wheat and sunflower in Argentina. It was also aiming to double storage and loading capacity over the next four years.

Port agency takes control of Paraná River network

The Argentine government has handed responsibility for the operation of the Paraná River network to the country’s general port administration agency (AGP), AgriCensus reported on 1 July.

Following a presidential decree, AGP would take control of the key waterway for a 12-month period, with potential for an extension, until a long-term international concession could be awarded next year, the report said.

AGP would also be in charge of collecting the tolls paid by bulk carriers using the waterway and use those resources to pay for private dredging work, AgriCensus said.

Belgian firm Jan de Nul and Argentina’s Emepa were still currently in charge of the concession despite their original contract expiring at the end of April, as the government had been forced to extend the concession for three months, the report said.

Head of the Rosario Grain Exchange (BCR) Daniel Nasini told local newspaper Infobae that it was vital to guarantee the continuity of the service in the short term, especially with the current low water levels in the Paraná.

The Paraná waterway comprises 86 ports and is a key route to export agricultural commodities, such as soyabeans, from Argentina and nearby Paraguay, but it has recently been affected by severely low water levels, which had disrupted transit through the river this year.

The national government was currently working on the technical and economic details of a new concession for the river network, which could have a length of 15 years, AgriCensus wrote.

LDC and Bunge expand transport apps

Agribusiness giant Louis Dreyfus Co (LDC) has teamed up with logistics platform Circular to coordinate its grain truck deliveries in Argentina, World Grain said on 17 June.

Circular’s app was already available to producers and carriers who supplied LDC’s General Lagos facility and was expected to be used at all LDC plants, ports and warehouses in Argentina over the coming months, the report said.

The app allowed drivers to schedule delivery times and interact with logistics departments at warehouses and plants.

Meanwhile, Bunge and South American tech firm Target announced on 6 May that they had launched a digitised

LDC and Bunge are using freight apps to streamline truck and plant operations in South America

truck freight hiring company in Brazil, following their launch of the Vector app last year. Vector communicates loading and unloading locations, allows freight scheduling and distributes transport documents.

Bunge said Vector now accounted for 97% of the volume it transported by road in Brazil and the new firm would offer the app to other businesses.

Dry bulk shipping rates reach highs due to strong demand

The dry bulk shipping sector posted its best first half performance in a decade with rates for Capesize, Panamex and Supramax vessels topping US$30,000/day, Freight Waves reported on 28 June.

Daily rates for Capesize ships rose to US$33,300, US$32,800 for Panamaxes and US$31,600 for Supramaxes, according to Clarksons Platou Securities.

It was rare for all three size categories to simultaneously top US$30,000 as they had for a two-week period, the report said.

Oilseeds are usually transported on Panamax vessels, which can carry 60,000100,000 dwt of cargo, as well as on smaller Handymax (35,000-50,000 dwt) or Supramax carriers (50,000-60,000 dwt).

Braemar ACM Shipbroking lead dry cargo analyst Nick Ristic told American Shipper that the strength of the market seemed to be coming from the smaller ships as opposed to Capesizes (above 150,000 dwt).

“Trade on Handie and Supras has been extremely good, but for Capes, it has been fairly average. There are a lot of inefficiencies and regional imbalances as a result of COVID that are keeping these markets tight, so we expect things to cool as we get towards the end of this year and into early 2022.”