The Panama Canal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Cuiabá, Brazil, to promote the Panama Canal’s position as a route for grain shipments traveling from northern Brazil to ports accessed in the Pacific Ocean.
The agreement, signed with the Association of Soybean and Corn Producers of Mato Grosso (Aprosoja), will allow the two groups to conduct joint marketing activities and exchange market studies and information on trade flows to support modernization and improvement programs.
Panama Canal will try to promote the use of the Panamax locks for soy and corn grain transits originating in northern Brazil and traveling to markets in Asia. These shipments typically transit on Panamax vessels given the similarity between the drafts in the Amazon River ports and the Panamax locks.
The MOU’s signing comes at a time when exporters of grains from Brazil are increasing in shipment volumes from 2017. Dry bulk, including grains, accounted for roughly 24% of the waterway’s total transits during its 2017 fiscal year. Since beginning its 2018 fiscal year on October 1 of last year, 21.6% of Panamax and 7.9% of Neopanamax transits have consisted of dry bulk.