São Paulo – The port of Santos, Latin America’s largest port complex, is expected to handle 120.6 million tons of cargo in 2017, a record-breaking number according to the Dock Company of the State of São Paulo (CODESP). The previous record was set in 2015 with 119.9 million tons of cargo.
“This forecast signals an increase of 6.3% over the expected results for 2016 [113.475 million tons],” said in a statement the CEO of the company, José Alex Oliva. According to director Cleveland Lofrano, this increase will be driven, mainly, by the forecast pointing to a “new historic mark for the Brazilian grain crop and a strong sugar output.”
CODESP expects an increase of 8.2% in exports (89 million tons) and of 1.3% in imports (31.596 million tons). Bulk solids (60.698 million tons) should increase by 12.1% over 2016, bulk liquid (15.882 million tons) should go up 1.2%, and overall cargo should climb 0.9% (44.015 million tons).
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
