The heavy flooding in southern Brazil has hit food storage facilities and affected the shipping of grains to port, seriously impacting the economy of Rio Grande do Sul state, a large soy, rice, wheat and meat producer. Anec, which is an association representing global grain exporters, said on Tuesday May 7th that access to the port of Rio Grande had been disrupted because a local rail line had stopped operating. Anec also reported road blockades that were forcing grain trucks to travel an extra 400km through alternative routes to reach the port.
Livestock were reported as killed by the floods, which arrived just as local farmers were in the final stages of the corn and soy harvests.
Paulo Pires, president of Rio Grande do Sul farm lobby Fecoagro, said that it was “really difficult to quantify this”. Gedeao Pereira, president of agriculture lobby Farsul, confirmed isolated cases of food silos being hit but floods, but said they could dry in time and hence losses would be minimized. Pereira said he is more concerned with crops like soy which farmers have yet to harvest in Rio Grande do Sul, especially in centre and southern areas.
Earlier on Tuesday, the state’s port authority said that Rio Grande was operating normally as its terminals had not been affected by the rise in the level of the Laguna dos Patos lagoon. By 08:00 local time on Tuesday the current was ebbing in the access channel Rio Grande port, allowing water to flow at a speed of about three knots, the authority said.