Posted on September 2, 2021
Double digit container growth at the Port of Santos in July has seen the Santos Port Authority adjust its projection for 2021 to 4.8m teu.
July’s container volumes grew 23% year-on-year, handling 397,314 teu, and brought the overall year-to-date volume to 2.8m which represents a growth of 19%.
Marcelo Ribeiro, director of operations at SPA, highlighted that container terminals “have been investing in infrastructure and new technologies that increase their productivity and energy efficiency, resulting in more attractiveness to the market.
“The performance achieved by the sector in Santos is the result of good management.”
The Port of Santos handled around 28% of Brazilian trade in July with the majority of these transactions having China as the main origin and destination.
Overall movement of cargo year-to-date grew 6% to 88.9m tonnes, above the result achieved in the first seven months of 2020 and also marking the best for the period.
Shipments accounted for 72% (64.1m tonnes) of the total handled, while discharges totalled 28% (24.8m).
Soy and sugar stood out in the accumulated movement for the year with shipments of, respectively, 21.5m tonnes and 11.9m tonnes.
Bulk soybean meal had the third largest volume handled, with shipments of 4.2m tonnes, followed by fertiliser discharges with 4.2m tonnes and by cellulose shipments at 2.9m tonnes.
Liquid bulk maintained year-on-year at 10.6m tonnes and general loose cargo reached 3.8m tonnes at an increase of 19%.
Although the movement of cargo has increased, the flow of ships from January-July was 1% lower than last year at 2,851 berths, evidencing the greater volume transported by vessels that dock at Santos.
Additionally the SPA ended the second quarter with net income of R$98.9m (US$19m), a historic quarterly record for the state-owned company.
Profit more than doubled compared to the same period in 2020 and grew 127%, driven by the increase in revenue and the decrease in costs and expenses.
Net revenue grew 13% and reached R$295.9m (US$56.3m), favoured by the strong movement of cargo.
The second quarter was marked not only by the continued good performance of exports but also the by the consolidation in the recovery of imports, especially in containers.
EBITDA adjusted for extraordinary events recorded an increase of 40%, reaching R$181.6m (US$34m), while the adjusted EBITDA margin was 61% at an increase of 11.8 points compared to 2020.
Gains in operating results contributed toward SPA ending the second quarter with a net cash position above R$447m (US$85m), a significant improvement over the R$29.7m (US$ 5.6m) verified in the second quarter of 2020.
Marcus Mingoni, director of administration and finance at SPA, said: “The company is ready for privatisation. We gained efficiency and quality in the provision of services, reduced costs, strengthened liquidity, mapped and addressed all liabilities.
