Impact of Transportation Policies on Competitiveness of Brazilian and U.S. Soybeans

Abstract

Because of increased international consumption, soybeans have become one of the world's top commodities. Brazil and the United States, the world's two largest soybean exporters, possess unique agricultural commodity infrastructure schemes for production and transportation. The goal of this paper is to examine the differences between transportation systems and infrastructure of the two countries, and look at how these differences affect their respective commodity transportation policies. A theoretical overview of the essential role transportation plays in business logistics is followed by an analysis and comparison of the Brazilian and U.S. transportation systems. Drawing on previous U.S. Department of Agriculture studies of U.S. and Brazilian commodity transportation, landed cost price formation analyses are performed, taking into account production, internal transportation, and freight tariffs. Examples of landed cost price formation are also given to enrich the information provided. It is shown that in certain cases Brazilian internal soybean transportation costs can represent 230% more than those of the United States. On the basis of the literature review, the effect of transportation policies on the total landed cost of soybeans on the world marketplace are examined, as are reasons for why Brazilian soybeans suffer a competitive disadvantage from field to port. The current situation and what could be done to potentially improve Brazilian internal transportation policies is also discussed.

The insertion of a multimodal transportation system to improve the logistics competitiveness of agricultural commodities in a Colombian region. Foreign commerce and value added

“…Being more significant the case of the US, where larger volumes of this commodity are shipped via inland waterways. This is consistent with the fact that the US and Brazil are the first and second exporters of these agricultural products worldwide [4].…”

“…This is linked with the fact, in the case of Colombia, that 2.5 billion pesos are to be invested during a period from the present thru the next 13 years on the Magdalena River, on dredging and river traffic stability, and this river is epicentre of this study in terms of building up port infrastructure along its waterway. Finally, there are very important experiences as the ones occurring in the Brazilian and the US soy bean export markets, as documented per [4], where not only large volumes of soybean export in both countries are internally transported via river transportation producing very competitive inland freights. Being more significant the case of the US, where larger volumes of this commodity are shipped via inland waterways.…”

LIMITAÇÕES E PROBLEMAS NO TRANSPORTE DA SOJA NO BRASIL. Limitations and problems in soy transport in Brazil

“…al., 2016); Research in Transportation Business & Management ; Semina: Ciências Agrárias (TELLES et. al., 2009); Transportation Research Record (FRIEND;LIMA, 2011). Esse resultado evidencia a noção de interdisciplinaridade presente em relação ao tema.…”

Combining Geographic Information Systems for Transportation and Mixed Integer Linear Programming in Facility Location-Allocation Problems

“…Other examples of GIS application in studies of location can be seen in the literature, such as: Reference [11] describes the development of a planning procedure based on GIS to assist decision makers in site selection when various accessibility criteria are considered. Reference [12], who integrated ArcGIS ® with an expert system to assist in the allocation of bank branches; Reference [13] developed a heuristic method integrated with GIS location-allocation problems for maximum coverage and location of the p-median; Reference [14] applied multicriteria decision analysis in locating power plants using GIS-T; Reference [15] performed a study on current location and a proposed relocation of state schools in Brazilian municipalities; Reference [2] studied the location of day-care centers and health clinics in urban areas using GIS location models; Reference [16] conducted a study to allocate sewage treatment plants and landfills; Reference [17] located cross-docking centres for a pharmaceutical products network; Reference [18] studied how to allocate consolidation terminals for the less-thantruckload trucking industry in Brazil; Reference [19] developed a manufacturing plants or deposits (or both) global-scale model for transnational corporations.…”