ADM Begins Expansion, Upgrade of Santos Port

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has had a presence at Brazil’s Santos Port since 1997, and last year, signed an agreement to remain at the port until 2037. The company has now announced that it has commenced work to expand and upgrade its bulk grain terminal and silo storage facilities at the site.

The Santos project will include increasing storage capacity from 6 million tons to 8 million tons and will greatly improve environmental controls through the reduction of particle emissions that have sparked complaints from local businesses.

“Brazil is one of the world’s most important agricultural producers, and ADM is continuing to deliver on our strategy as we invest to expand our already significant operations there,” said Greg Morris, president of ADM’s Oilseeds Processing business in a company statement.

The project at Santos follows upon the company’s announcement of upgrades being conducted at its northern Barcarena export terminal, including increasing volume at the site to 6 million tons per year. Together, the improvements at ADMs two ports terminals will boost the company’s Brazilian grain export ability to meet demand in Asian, African, and European markets.

As bottlenecks at Brazil’s main southern ports become increasingly costly, grain traders in Brazil have worked to open alternate northerly export routes, giving rise to the Barcarena terminal, in which ADM recently sold a stake to rival trader, Glencore, reports Reuters.

“ADM is already one of Brazil’s largest exporters of agricultural products. When these improvements to both ports are complete, we will be able to move even more crops out of Brazil, and we will be able to do so more efficiently, enhancing both our capability to meet global customer demand and our ability to grow our returns in South America,” said Morris.