Louis Dreyfus Company to build sugar transshipment terminal in Brazil 

BRAZIL – Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), a global leader in the agricultural commodities sector, has unveiled plans to construct a sugar transshipment terminal in Pederneiras, São Paulo State, Brazil.  

This development marks a significant step in the company’s efforts to enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of sugar transportation in the region. 

The project will include a warehouse with a static capacity of 90,000 tons and a receiving and shipping flow of 500 tons per hour.  

The terminal, slated for completion by mid-2025, aims to provide sugar mills in Brazil’s Center-South region with a more efficient logistics model by utilizing rail transport to move sugar to the Port of Santos. Currently, road transportation dominates sugar logistics in the area. 

João Paiva, LDC’s Global Director of Ports and Waterways, emphasized the advantages of the new terminal. “This initiative offers greater operational efficiency and reliability compared to road transport, addressing growing interest among mills in rail logistics,” Paiva said. 

The terminal will operate in synergy with the Guarujá Sugar Export Terminal (TEAG), where LDC operates through a joint venture. This integration is expected to optimize costs and expand the company’s operational reach.  

Guilherme Correia, LDC’s Head of Sugar for North Latin America, highlighted Brazil’s increasing importance in global sugar markets, noting, “With increased production, the country will need improved access to international markets, which this investment in export logistics will support.” 

The terminal is projected to increase annual rail transshipment capacity for sugar by one million tons, enabling LDC to expand its market share in the Center-South region and boost the volume of sugar transported by rail. 

The project will leverage LDC’s existing infrastructure in Pederneiras, where the company has operated a grain intermodal port for nearly 20 years.  

According to company statement, this facility will facilitate the use of daily 80-wagon rail trains to transport increased volumes of sugar to the Port of Santos. 

This announcement follows another major LDC investment in September 2024, when the company broke ground on a specialty feed production line in Tianjin, China.  

With a focus on fermented soybean meal, the facility will expand LDC’s presence in China’s rapidly growing feed protein market. 

Despite reporting net sales of US$25.6 billion in the first half of 2024—a slight decline from US$25.8 billion during the same period in 2023—LDC continues to invest in expanding its global operations to meet evolving market demands. 

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