China’s largest food and agricultural company COFCO International has started work on the expansion of the Port of Santos terminal in Brazil.
Set to expand the company’s port capacity in Brazil from 3M to 14M tonnes, the new terminal was scheduled to become operational in phases between 2025 and 2026, COFCO said on 14 August.
Located on the São Paulo state’s coastline, the Port of Santos is the largest in Latin America connecting more than 600 ports in 125 countries. It is also the most important foreign trade route in Brazil with almost 27% of the country’s trade balance (US$112.3bn) passing through the port, according to Santos Port Authority.
Last March, COFCO announced that its Brazilian branch had secured a 25-year lease for a new bulk terminal in the Port of Santos.
As part of the agreement, the Brazilian branch would invest in the modernisation and expansion of the terminal facilities, COFCO said in a 30 March statement.
“The investment will provide farmers with more choices and create new opportunities for COFCO International Brasil to cooperate with local industry partners and logistics companies,” the company said in March.
At the time of the March announcement, COFCO said its Brazilian branch sourced agriculture commodities from more than 7,000 farmers.
