In a report on its operations in Brazil on Monday, A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S – the world’s largest container shipping company – said that Brazilian exporters are facing delays shipping goods transported in containers, including coffee and cotton.
The report blames the practice of some exporters to reserving more space in ships than they need, leaving no room for cargo for other companies.
“Exporters are hurting each other when they book space they end up not using, because that increases costs and poses obstacles to other exporters that can’t find space in ships,” Maersk’s director for East Coast South America, Antonio Dominguez, said in the report.
In fact, overall Brazilian exports via containers decreased 6% this quarter. A solution to this problem could to charge the space when it is reserved, but no decision has yet been made.
As Reuters reported, Brazilian exporters of coffee to Europe and the US are experiencing problems finding room on ships. This could get worse as Brazil is harvesting its largest crop ever this year. In addition, Maersk noted that a large cotton crop is also a factor that makes cargo room unavailable.
