São Paulo – By the end of this Friday (30th), the Port of Rio Grande, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, is going to ship 10,000 heads of cattle to Egypt. This is the first foreign sale to Egypt ever at the port, according to information supplied by the terminal’s management. Since 2005, when the Port of Rio Grande started exporting livestock, 156,200 animals have already been shipped to other destinations.
In the Arab market, the first country ever to receive shipments of livestock through the Port of Rio Grande was Lebanon, which already imports from Brazil on a regular basis. The inaugural shipment to Egypt started on Wednesday (28th). The 10,000 heads of cattle are going to travel in the Panamanian livestock vessel Kenoz.
The cattle was sold by company Angus Trading, which needed 40 lorries to transport the animals to the port. More than 100 port workers are involved in the operation, as well as 30 employees of the exporting company, according to the management of the terminal.
According to port operator and customhouse broker Leonardo Vanzin, director of customs services company Vanzin Serviços Aduaneiros, in charge of shipping the livestock, other batches will be sold to Lebanon before the end of the year.
After this first sale to Egypt, he believes new sales to the Egyptian market may take place, increasing the throughput at the Port of Rio Grande.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
