Logistic bottlenecks in Brazil hit export prices

Logistic problems, such as lack of storage, have hit export prices of Brazilian soyabeans, according to trade sources quoted by AgriCensus on 28 March.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) soyabean futures prices fell by US$57/tonne for May shipment to US$495.25/tonne on 24 March, the report said.

Paranaguá port’s average shipment waiting time had reached up to 32 days while truck flows through the main road link into the port were still affected by landslides in March, the report said. Other ports were in a similar situation, with little to no capacity to store more grains in the short-term, AgriCensus wrote.

According to the logistics department of a Bra- zilian brokerage, “players are doing all they can to free space in their stocks, but many buyers are not even accepting offers any more due to the lack of space in their storage”.

With the ongoing harvest still pressuring stocks, “the price doesn’t have much importance, as the logistic and cash needs are forcing farmer’s cooperatives and traders to sell their beans,” Aldo Lobo, market analyst from the Brazilian brokerage Granopar, was quoted as saying.

With Paranaguá, as well as the northern ports of Santos and São Francisco facing difficulties, Rio Grande port – some 1,000km south of Paranaguá – had ended up being an option, AgRural market analyst Daniele Siqueira said.

New Canada-US-Mexico rail line created

A merger to create the first single-line railway connecting Canada, the USA and Mexico has been approved by the US Surface Transportation Board.

The Canadian Pacific (CP)/ Kansas City Southern (KCS) merger paved the way for the two companies to form the Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) railway as early as 14 April, the firms said on 15 March. The combined network would connect ports on all US coasts via a single-line, continent-wide network, Garrett Holland, a senior research analyst at Robert W Baird & Co Inc, wrote in March 2021, before CP completed its US$31bn acquisition of KCS in December that year.

CP currently moved around 1.2bn bushels of agricultural commodities and the merger offered the potential to move these further south in the USA and into Mexico, Progressive Farmer wrote on 15 March.

KCS customers could also enjoy new access to the east and west coasts of Canada and into Mexico, Soy Trans- portation Coalition executive director Mike Steenhoek said.

However, the US Wheat Associates and National Association of Wheat Growers said on 15 March that they were concerned the merger would impede competition and raise rates for agricultural shippers.

Proposal to curb China’s ability to exploit cargo shipping data

Proposed new shipping reforms would include a curb on China’s ability to exploit cargo shipping data, FreightWaves reports.

Speaking at a media roundtable in February, US representative for South Dakota Dusty Johnson confirmed the move would be included in the reforms that he was planning to introduce in May as part of an updated Ocean Shipping Reform Act, the 17 February report said.

In addition to addressing data security concerns for companies using the Shang- hai Shipping Exchange, a major container freight-rate benchmark for US imports, Johnson has said he would like to disincentivise companies from using the National Transportation and Logistics Public Information Platform (LOGINK), a Chinese state-sponsored shipment tracking data exchange. According to US authorities, the Chinese government was encouraging ports, ocean carriers and freight forwarders to adopt LOGINK by providing it for free, FreightWaves wrote.

The platform could also give China’s government access to sensitive data, including commercial transport of US military cargo, insight into supply chain vulnerabilities and critical market information, according to an issue brief published by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

“All this could help Chinese firms compete on an unequal footing in the nearly US$1tn third-party logistics industry, particularly the freight forwarding services market estimated at just under US$200bn.”