Cargill and a consortium formed by Louis Dreyfus Co. and Brazilian grain trader Amaggi (ALDC) were among the winners of a competitive auction to operate three terminals at the Port of Paranaguá, Brazil, for 35 years.
The combined bids at the Sáo Paulo Stock Exchange for the PAR 14, 15 and 25 port areas reached 855 million reais ($150.64 million), according to Portos do Paraná, the port’s administrator. The companies that won the auction are also expected to invest 2.2 billion reais ($387.62 million) in improvements during the coming years.
All the areas auctioned at Brazil’s second-busiest port have existing facilities and infrastructure and handle solid vegetable bulk, mainly soybeans, soy meal, and corn.
Cargill in Brazil’s winning bid of 411 million reais ($72.41 million) for PAR15 was the highest amount at the auction. Cargill was among a record six bidders for the area.
The ALDC consortium secured PAR25 with a bid of 219 million reais ($38.58 million) among five participants.
PAR14, which contains a public silo and a greenfield space, was won by BTG Pactual Commodities, a Brazilian investment bank, emerging from a group of five interested parties with a bid of 225 million reais ($39.64 million).
“I believe that the great competition is due to the fact that we are reaching the last auction areas, which are extremely relevant for agriculture, being one of the main export corridors in the country,” said Mariana Pescatori, executive secretary of Brazil’s Ministry of Ports and Airports.
Brazil has established itself as the world’s top supplier of soybeans. The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture is forecasting Brazil to produce 173 million tonnes of soybeans in marketing year 2025-26 and export a record 112 million tonnes.
The FAS forecasts that corn production will reach 130 million tonnes and exports will reach 44 million tonnes, making it the world’s second-largest shipper after the United States.