Santos port moves 6.52 million tonnes cargo

Brazil's main port of Santos moved 6.52 million tonnes of cargo in April, down 0.7 percent from 6.56 million tonnes a year ago, Port Authority Codesp said on Thursday.
Imports, aided by a strong real against the dollar, jumped 4.5 percent to 1.99 million tonnes. Exports fell 2.8 percent to 4.53 million tonnes for the month. In the first four months of 2007, a record 24.9 million tonnes of goods flowed through Santos, surpassing the same period last year by 12.4 percent.
Sugar exports, the biggest farm commodity moving through the port by volume, rose 5.3 percent to 744,908 tonnes in April, and cane-based ethanol shipments were up 245 percent at 95,736 tonnes. Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of sugar and the top ethanol exporter.
Coffee shipments fell 40 percent to 75,815 tonnes. Meat exports jumped 29 percent to 65,373 tonnes as countries increased imports after lifting a ban on Brazilian beef after a foot-and-mouth disease broke out over a year ago.