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Cargill and LDC among the winners of Brazil's port auction

Cargill and BTG Pactual Commodities, as well as a consortium consisting of Louis Dreyfus, Brazilian grain trader Amaggi and the Louis Dreyfus Group have been awarded rights to operate 3 terminals in Paranagua Port on Wednesday.

The competitive auction that involved multiple bidders highlights the importance to improve Brazilian logistics within the context of the global trader's war.

The companies bid a total of 855 million reais (about 151 million dollars) at an auction held by the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange for the right to operate three different Paranagua zones for 35 years.

Global grain traders are preparing to meet the increased demand for Brazilian agricultural products from countries such as China, which is in a war of trade with the United States.

The Port's Press Office said that after the auction the company is expected to increase its volume of vegetable bulk shipments from Paranagua by 4.8 millions tons per year, which represents a 47% growth.

Cargill won the auction with a bid for the PAR 15 Terminal of 411,000,000 reais, the highest bid at the time.

Paulo Sousa said that Cargill's president in Brazil is happy to have been awarded the rights to operate this terminal for 35 more years.

Paranagua's strategic location allows it to receive soymeal produced by Cargill in its first soy processing plant in Brazil. This unit is located in Ponta Grossa, just 214 km (133 miles) from the port.

The ALDC consortium consisting of Louis Dreyfus Company, Amaggi and Amaggi won the PAR25 Port Area.

Amaggi and Dreyfus stated in a joint statement that they were committed to boosting shipments via Paranagua. This is one of Brazil's main grain export hubs, along with Santos Port.

According to the Brazilian federal government, the total investment in the three terminals is expected to be 2.4 billion Brazilian reais (423 million dollars). (1 dollar = 5.6781 reals) (Reporting and editing by Marguerita choy)

(source: Reuters)