Apr 26, 2010
Soybean Harvest Wrapping Up In Rio Grande do Sul
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The last major state in Brazil to harvest soybeans is usually Rio Grande do Sul and the farmers in the state are now wrapping up the harvest. Approximately 90% of the soybeans have been harvested and the state is expected to produce 10 million tons of soybeans. Last year the state only produced 8.2 million tons of soybeans due to the prolonged impact of dry weather on the crop.
As the farmers complete the harvest, thousands of trucks per day are arriving at the ports in southern Rio Grande do Sul loaded with soybeans destined for export. Approximately 650,000 tons of soybeans have already been exported or 6.5% of this year's total production. The state is expected to export 4 million tons of soybeans and 80% of those soybeans will be destined for China.
As of yet, there has not been any reports of a lack of storage space for the 2009-10 soybean crop like those being reported in central Brazil. The reason there has not been any problems is because of the close proximity of the production fields to the ports. A truck can make one or two round trips a day from the interior to the ports allowing the soybeans to be harvested and exported at the same time. It's not like in Mato Grosso where a load of soybeans destined for the Port of Paranagua might take ten days for a round trip. This has caused a lot of congestion at grain terminals in central Brazil.
The only problems registered thus far at the ports have been truckers arriving with their loads even though they did not have permission to enter the port. The state of Rio Grande do Sul has put in place a system similar to that in Parana where truckers must wait to be summoned by a specific exporter to load a specific vessel. If they arrive without permission, they will not be permitted to unload. This system was designed to avoid the port from being overwhelmed by too many truckers arriving at the same time wishing to be unloaded.