Cargill increases soybean export from Brazil

The American agribusiness multinational Cargill is constructing a soybean export terminal in Santarém, Brazil, near the local port. The complex will occupy a 45,000 square metre area and will require US$40m in investments, reports Gazeta Mercantil Worldwide. José Luiz Glaser, director of soybean processing at Cargill, said the firm expects to ship 800,000 tons per year from Santarém to Europe and Asia. The Brazilian state of Mato Grosso produces 3.5 million tons of soybeans, which could reach 10 million tons up to five years. Approximately 25 per cent of the soybeans acquired by Cargill in Brazil, which amounted to 6 million tons in 2000, is produced in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, where the company has four warehouses. Cargill's goal is to improve its position in western Mato Grosso state, an area dominated by the Brazilian group Grupo Maggi, which exports 1.1 million tons of soybeans from the region via the Rio Madeira waterway. Source: Gazeta Mercantil Worldwide​