City bets on Port of Maricá to boost live cattle exports and strengthen agribusiness

The City of Maricá aims to take advantage of the growth of live cattle exports in Brazil to bring this activity to the municipality. A meeting held on Tuesday morning (June 17) aligned actions and necessary measures for implementing one of the largest segments within Brazilian agribusiness today.

The construction of the Port of Maricá – with works set to begin in the second half of this year – is seen as crucial to the success of exports in the city. Nevertheless, even before the facility is completed, Maricá already has the potential to become a quarantine area for animals, where cattle from various parts of Brazil would undergo pre-shipment procedures.

“All aspects of cattle quarantine were discussed. Maricá can receive these animals from other regions of Brazil to quarantine them and then export them. There’s great potential here for the city to be part of this new chapter of agribusiness in Rio de Janeiro,” said Raphael Moreira, Superintendent of the Ministry of Agriculture in the State of Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil exported over 1 million animals last year. Starting in January of this year, the state of Rio de Janeiro authorized the Port of Açu, in São João da Barra, as the first location in the state for live cattle exports. Each ship carries between 5,000 and 7,000 head of cattle and may carry up to 20,000.

Previously, live cattle were only exported via São Paulo, Pará, and Rio Grande do Sul. With the construction of the Port of Maricá and the potential for other ports to become qualified for exports, the participating cities are expected to experience economic growth, job creation, and increased income generation.

“Many jobs will be created in various areas connected to this sector—transport, animal feed, veterinary care… the entire supply chain will be involved. Each shipment generates approximately R$ 400 million for the state’s economy. More companies will come to Maricá, and as a result, the local population will benefit,” Raphael concluded.

Project kickoff
Even before the port is completed, Maricá will be ready to enter the live cattle export map. With a pre-shipment unit, the activity can already begin in the city. Initially, the municipality will serve as a quarantine location for the cattle, with the exports carried out through other ports.

Agribusiness is considered one of Brazil’s economic powerhouses due to its significant contribution to the country’s GDP growth. Despite being geographically small, Rio de Janeiro shows capacity to compete with other states in terms of quality. Bringing live cattle exports to Maricá is seen as a milestone in agricultural development.

“Maricá has the potential to meet a demand that is currently repressed. We will have both cattle exports and confinement in the region. I believe that with a port, Maricá would be fully capable of becoming a global export powerhouse,” said Renato Poubel, veterinarian and entrepreneur.

Economic diversification
The company Maricá Alimentos (Amar), responsible for implementing economic diversification strategies based on biotechnology and the agri-food sector, will also participate in the live cattle export process in the city.

“We want to expand all initiatives. And live cattle exports are growing in Rio de Janeiro. After this meeting, we will evaluate the possibilities of exporting confined cattle from here in Maricá,” said Marlos Costa, president of Amar.

The company has also been working for several months to obtain national agricultural certification in the city from the Ministry of Agriculture. Maricá already has a municipal inspection program overseen by the Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock and now seeks to obtain certification under the Federal Inspection Service (SIF), which will enable all local food production to be marketed both domestically and internationally.

Source: Compre Rural

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