(Bloomberg) -- Drought in the Amazon region is worse this year than in 2023, signaling a challenge for grain shipments, according to Hidrovias do Brasil SA, one of the country’s top barge operators.
“The picture this month shows a scenario more challenging than the one we saw last year,” Chief Executive Officer Fabio Abreu Schettino said during an earnings call Wednesday.
The company operates along a route known as the Northern Arc, an array of ports on the Amazon and northeastern Atlantic coast that transport crops from farms in central Brazil.
At the end of 2023, a severe drought in the region reduced the amount of cargo shipped, forcing volumes to be split into smaller portions so barges could make it through critical points where rivers are at their lowest.
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