Brazil iron ore exports seen surging in 2024 if rivers stay high

Brazil’s Corumba region could more than double iron ore shipments through neighboring Uruguay this year if there is enough water in the rivers, according to one of the biggest logistics companies on the Paraguay- Paraná Hidrovia system.

Miners have told Navios South American Logistics they could ship eight million to 10 million tons of iron ore this year through its mineral storage and transshipment facility at Uruguay’s Nueva Palmira port, up from 4.1 million tons in 2023, the company’s chairwoman said.

“There is a good flow of iron ore that will become almost constant,” Angeliki Frangou said in an interview. “The reason for this is you have new participants — companies that don’t have” competing mines in other areas of Brazil.

The Hidrovia that connects Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia is a key waterway linking soybean, beef and iron-ore producers in South America’s hinterland with global markets. However, frequent droughts in recent years have depleted the rivers, sometimes forcing barge convoys to operate at reduced capacity.

Navios plans to invest about $300 million over the next decade to expand its operations in Nueva Palmira — where it handles grains, minerals and liquids — and build terminals in Uruguay’s main port of Montevideo, Frangou said.

Other key points from her interview include:

• Uruguay stands to handle more cargo traffic from the deepening of the Montevideo port and proposed synthetic fuels projects
• Navios South American Logistics — majority owned by Navios Maritime Holdings Inc — isn’t ruling out an initial public offering. “What we learned is that investors like size. One of the things we are doing is adding services and creating scale,” Frangou said