Brazil's Agriculture Ministry increased inspections on soybean shipments to China following Beijing's repeated findings of pesticide- and fungicide-coated beans, live insects and heat damage, according to reporting by Reuters' Ella Cao and Naveen Thukral.
Importers now must repeatedly verify with Brazilian suppliers that shipments are free of phytosanitary problems before departure or risk being blocked once they reach China.
Longer waiting times for ships at Brazilian ports have raised demurrage costs. The freight rate for Panamax vessels from Santos Port to major northern Chinese ports rose around 24% in March.
Cargill paused soybean exports from Brazil to China, its Latin America head told Reuters Wednesday.
