Exports Through the Northern Arc Soar with New Infrastructure

Corn and soybean exports through Brazil’s Northern region have more than doubled. The volume shipped through Northern Arc ports grew approximately 57% in recent years, rising from 36.7 million tons in 2020 to 57.6 million tons in 2024. This growth is the result of investments in multimodal infrastructure, with rail transport expanding and inland waterways increasingly used in the Amazon region. The proximity to new agricultural frontiers, such as MATOPIBA (Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia), has also spurred these investments, consolidating the North as a major hub for the flow of agricultural production. The data is presented in the 2025 Agro-Logistics Yearbook, published this Thursday (5) by the National Supply Company (Conab).

“Brazil is moving toward a new agro-industrial logistics configuration in which the strengthening of the Northern Arc, investments in rail and waterway infrastructure, and expansion of storage capacity—especially on farms—are fundamental pillars for increasing the competitiveness of agribusiness on the international stage,” emphasized Conab’s president, Edegar Pretto.

According to the Yearbook, the ports of Santos (SP), Paranaguá (PR), and those located in the Northern Arc (such as Itaqui, Barcarena, and Santarém) accounted for 81.2% of Brazil’s corn and soybean exports in 2024. The Northern region alone was responsible for about 38% of this flow. “The reduction in freight costs, driven by the shorter distance between key production areas and the ports, along with the internalization of fertilizer supply to serve the central region, has led market players to prefer this route,” explains Thomé Guth, Conab’s Superintendent of Operational Logistics.
Among the Northern Arc ports, Itaqui (MA) and Barcarena (PA) stand out, with corn and soybean exports increasing by 80.3% and 70.3%, respectively, between 2020 and 2024. In Maranhão, the rise in exports is mainly due to cargo flows from various states, especially via rail transport, which provides faster and safer routes to their destinations. Total corn and soybean exports from the port rose from 11.21 million tons in 2020 to 20.22 million tons in 2024. “Rail transport, for example, is in a phase of expansion, driven by the early renewal of concessions and new policies that support private capital investment,” notes Arnoldo de Campos, Conab’s Director of Operations and Supply.

Currently, five major strategic projects form the core of Brazil’s national rail plan:

• The corridor integrating the West-East Integration Railway (Fiol);
• The Central-West Integration Railway (Fico);
• The extension of the North-South Railway to the Port of Vila do Conde (PA);
• Construction of the Southeast Rail Ring, connecting Vitória (ES) to Itaboraí (RJ);
• Completion of 600 kilometers of track linking the Transnordestina Railway to the national network;
• The Ferrogrão, designed to transport grains from the Central-West to the Northern Arc, covers 933 kilometers between Mato Grosso and Pará.

Brazil’s inland waterway network has also seen record-breaking cargo movement across the four hydrographic regions that form the country’s interior logistics system. Between 2017 and 2025, the number of warehouses with waterway access increased by 24%, indicating a growing preference for more sustainable and efficient logistics solutions. The main highlight is the Amazon region, which is responsible for nearly two-thirds of Brazil’s waterborne transport, where rivers serve a similar function to roads and railways in the rest of the country.

Earlier this year, the federal government announced R$ 4.8 billion in investments in Brazilian waterways under the New PAC (Growth Acceleration Program). These initiatives aim to expand the navigability of Brazil’s waterways. In addition to creating jobs and income, they also support Brazil’s logistics decarbonization policy. According to data from the Logistics Planning Company (EPL) and the Institute for Energy and the Environment (Iema), transporting goods via waterways reduces emissions by 95% compared to road transport and by 70% compared to rail transport.

Additional information on logistics—particularly soybean, corn, and soybean meal exports, as well as fertilizer imports—can be found in the 2025 Logistics Yearbook, available on Conab’s website.

Source: Compre Rural

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