By Gustavo Bonato
SAO PAULO, July 25 (Reuters) - Two soybean cargoes have
recently departed from a new terminal in northeast Brazil
operated by VLI and local trader Multigrain, the latest option
in the region as exporters look for alternatives to Brazil's
overcrowded southern ports.
A third ship carrying 27,800 tonnes of soy contracted by
Multigrain is anchored in the Barra dos Coqueiros terminal in
Sergipe state, according to shipping agencies and Thomson
Reuters data. WILSOYA/SHP
The first known soy terminal in Sergipe will export just
150,000 tonnes of soy per year, but it is part of a broader
trend to increase capacity and cut costs for exporters in Brazil
by developing new shipping routes closer to the Panama Canal.
International giants like Glencore, Louis Dreyfus, Bunge
Ltd. and ADM have inaugurated terminals in the region in recent
years, as Brazil, the world's No. 2 soy producer, harvests
consecutive record crops.
In May, the first ship left Barra dos Coqueiros for Russia,
carrying 28,700 tonnes of soy. A second cargo, of 26,000 tonnes,
was exported in July for Mitsui. Both carried non genetically
modified soy.
Barras dos Coqueiros, also known as the Maritime Terminal
Inacio Barbosa, consists of a concrete pier installed over two
kilometers into the sea, protected by a breakwater.
"We started discussing the project with Multigrain some two
years ago to export non genetically modified soybeans from
western Bahia," Fabiano Lorenzi, commercial director of VLI,
told Reuters.
He said VLI is the terminal operator while Multigrain holds
exclusivity in the origination of soybeans exported.
VLI's stakeholders are miner Vale VALE5.SA (37.6 percent),
Brookfield BAMa.TO (26.6 percent), Japan's Mitsui 8031.T (20
percent) and FI-FGTS (15.9 percent). Mitsui has since 2011
controlled Multigrain, which did not immediately respond to
request for comment.
The terminal had previously moved cargo like urea and cement
and received support vessels for oil rigs operating in the
region. Multigrain invested 15 million reais ($4.5 million) to
adapt the terminal for soy export.
The terminal aims to export 150,000 tonnes of soybeans this
year, and increase that amount "a little" in coming years,
Lorenzi said.
Buyers are normally willing to pay slightly more for
conventional soybeans, but the soy must be kept separate from
the GMO variety.
Nearly all the soy in Brazil, the world's No. 2 soybean
producer, is GMO. Just 6.5 percent of the record 2014/15 crop
was conventional, according to consultancy Celeres.
($1 = 3.3 reais)
(Writing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Angus MacSwan)