Recent heavy rains in the Rio Grande do Sul state in southern Brazil have caused floods and landslides, causing serious casualties and property losses.
Satellite images show that local streets, houses, public infrastructure such as highways, airports, and sports venues were flooded, and the disaster was serious.
On the morning of May 21, local time, information released by the Civil Defense Department of Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state showed that the heavy rains that hit the state since April 29 have resulted in 161 deaths, 806 injuries, and 85 injuries. People are missing, more than 650,000 people have been displaced, and more than 2.33 million people have been affected.
Due to the largest flood in history, the import and export of soybeans and fertilizers in Rio Grande do Sul have been severely hit. Many ports have suspended operations and more than 100 ships have been affected.
According to analysis by Brazilian shipping service providers, this flood has had a profound impact on Brazilian shipping, and it is expected to take 20-30 days for the port to return to normal operations.
Due to flooding, the operations of the three major ports in Rio Grande do Sul, Alegre Port, Pelotas Port and Rio Grande Port, have been affected to varying degrees.
Alegre Port has suspended operations due to the water level of Guaíba Lake reaching 5.3 meters above the flood level in early May; log shipments at Pelotas Port are still suspended and terminal activities are paralyzed; night operations at Rio Grande Port have been suspended, and the port allows ships to enter and leave commercial terminals during the day All docks. For future daytime operations into other terminals, technical analysis will be conducted based on the risks of the specific operations at that time.
Rio Grande do Sul is the main producer of Brazilian rice, accounting for 70% of Brazil's total rice production. Affected by heavy rains, local rice production has reduced, and the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture has adopted an auction to import rice. However, rice prices in Mercosur have continued to rise recently.
At present, the price of rice in the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) has increased by 30%, and Brazil will cancel the import tax on grains from countries outside South America.
In addition to Brazil, Mercosur includes Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. These three countries are the main suppliers of Brazilian rice and enjoy zero tariff treatment.
The Brazilian federal government recently announced a rescue package that will invest 50.9 billion reais (approximately US$9.9 billion) to support Rio Grande do Sul residents, businesses, state and municipal governments.
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