Oct 31, 2024
More Than 60% of Mato Grosso's Corn Exports Move North
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The "Northern Arc" of ports in northern Brazil continue to gain market share of corn exports from Mato Grosso. From January through September of 2024, Mato Grosso exported 16.89 million tons of corn with 10.28 million tons or 60.8% of the total flowing through ports in Northern Brazil and 39.1% exported through southern ports. In 2021, 47.6% of Mato Grosso's corn exports flowed through the northern ports.
The two main northern ports for corn exports from Mato Grosso are Barcarena at the mouth of the Amazon River and the upriver port of Santarem. The Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea) indicated that these two ports exported 8.65 million tons of corn from January through September or 84.1% of the total.
In recent weeks, water levels on the Tapajos River, which is a southern tributary to the Amazon, dropped to the point where barging operations were suspended. Barging operations on the Madeira River were suspended earlier. Water levels on both rivers are expected to return to more normal levels in the months ahead.
Northern Brazil is in its second year of extreme drought and metrologists are concerned that water levels on the rivers in northern Brazil may not fully recover until 2026. The low rainfall is being attributed to climate change and last year's El Nino. Deforestation is also believed to contribute to the dryness especially in the eastern Amazon region.