Cargo handling in Brazil's Itaqui port, in northeastern Maranhao state, fell for the third consecutive month in April due to lower soybean and liquid bulk volumes.
Itaqui handled 2.9mn metric tonnes (t) of cargo in April, a near 12pc drop from 3.3mn t handled in the same month in 2025, according to the port authority.
The port handled 9.2pc less soybeans in April than a year prior, with exports totaling 1.8mn t, down from 2mn t in the same month in 2025. The port did not export corn in April, in line with a year earlier.
Fertilizer imports reached almost 299,500t in the month, slightly less than the 299,970t in April 2025.
Handling of liquid bulk — which includes ethanol, gasoline, diesel and other products — fell by around 24pc to 553,220t from a year earlier.
Jan-Apr handling drops
Itaqui handled less cargo in the first four months of 2026 than in the same period in 2025, driven by lower soybean exports.
Despite the record-high volumes in January, consecutive drops in cargo handling in February, as well as in March and April, resulted in a lower accumulated volume.
The port handled 10.1mn t in January-April, down by 0.5pc from the same period in 2025.
Soybean exports fell by almost 5pc to 4.4mn t from the same period last year.
The port handled 1.2mn t of fertilizers, up by 8.3pc from the 1.1mn t in January-April 2025. Corn shipments increased by 3.8pc to 315,585t in the same period.
