Despite the significant advances of Brazilian agriculture, transportation and storage costs still constitute the main barriers to the Brazilian agribusiness. The aim of this article is to analyze the effect of segregation of maize and soybeans in the Brazilian transport and storage logistics, especially genetically modified grains. In the context of the guidelines of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) as well as of the competitiveness in the international market, we develop a spatial equilibrium model in the form of a mixed complementarity problem. The competitiveness of Brazilian maize and soybeans on the international market is compromised by the inefficient logistics and slow responses to the demands of the CPB. The contribution of the paper is to evaluate how regulatory issues of a segment, in this case biotechnology, may interfere with logistic infrastructure projects.

The last Brazilian agricultural frontier known as MATOPIBA, an acronym for the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piaui and Bahia, is a region that has stood out in the scenario of modern large-scale agriculture intensive in capital and technology. However, barriers related to the transportation system, especially regarding the high logistics costs, have been negatively impacting this sector. To optimize the performance of this chain, a model for minimizing transportation costs was developed, using linear programming with an origin-destination matrix. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate whether the use of the North-South Railroad has potential as a new alternative intermodal route for soybean export from the MATOPIBA region, in order to minimize the transportation costs and promote the viability of new ports located in the northeast region of the country. This configuration can also contribute to reduce the overload of Santos Port (SP). Two scenarios were proposed based on the 2016/17 harvest of soybeanwhere the first scenario (A) consisted only of road routes, while the second (B), in addition to these routes, incorporated road-rail and road-water way intermodal routes. As a result, total transportation cost was reduced by 30% in scenario B and about half of all cargo was shipped by the new intermodal road-rail route to the Itaqui Port in the Northeast region. This configuration promotes a more sustainable logistics chain for soy, with more rational use of transport modes and decentralization of investments to other regions.

Brazil is the world’s second-largest producer of soybeans and the largest exporter. Despite the growing importance in the international market in the last harvests, activities related to this product threaten this position. Due to its economic importance for the country, this study aims to identify the competitiveness drivers of soybean destined for the international market and to measure their impacts on the export process. Therefore, the used methodology considers the systemic character of different factors that affect the supply chain positively or negatively. As a result, the logistics infrastructure dimension was the only competitiveness driver classified as unfavorable among the analyzed factors. The advances in agribusiness are being subsequently followed by some sectors of the economy such as science and technology. On the other hand, the logistics sector has not been showing the same development, causing some weaknesses to persist, either due to the lack of infrastructure of transport production, or the inability to properly store the national harvest. The current challenge for the State is to ensure the maintenance of the quality of the infrastructure already installed and to promote an environment capable of attracting private capital and a new investment cycle.

Despite significant advances in the Brazilian agriculture, the logistics costs, particularly transportation and storage costs continue to act as the main barriers that limit the potential of the Brazilian agribusiness. This study analyzes the logistics efficiency of the main flow routes for Brazil’s agricultural production and exports - in particular, corn production and exports, among the major producing states and the main ports of Brazil. For this purpose, we develop a performance measurement system based on the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) using four models for efficiency analysis: financial, customer, internal business processes, and learning and growth. Tthe efficiency of the main routes was calculated using the data envelopment analysis (DEA). Our results suggest that the routes from Mato Grosso state to Santarem port using a road-waterway intermodal transport system were the most efficient on three of the four criteria. Thereafter, the relative efficiency of all main Brazilian routes was analyzed based on the four criteria, establishing the references and developing a standard model to evaluate other logistics systems. Key words: Data envelopment analysis, corn, logistics index, route analysis.

A soja é um dos principais produtos agrícolas cultivados e comercializados no mundo, com uma área de 135 milhões de hectares e 392 milhões de toneladas produzidas na safra de 2021/2022 (United States Department of Agriculture, 2022 United States Department of Agriculture - USDA. (2022). Oilseeds: world markets and trade. Recuperado em 3 de maio de 2022, de https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/oilseeds.pdf https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circ... ). O Brasil passou de produtor coadjuvante na década de 1970 para o maior produtor e exportador mundial de soja em 2022, sendo responsável por 38% da produção e 52% das exportações (Toloi et al., 2022 Toloi, R. C., Reis, J. G. M. D., Toloi, M. N. V., Vendrametto, O., & Cabral, J. A. S. P. (2022). Applying analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to identify decision-making in soybean supply chains: a case of Mato Grosso production. Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural, 60(2), e229595. ; United States Department of Agriculture, 2022 United States Department of Agriculture - USDA. (2022). Oilseeds: world markets and trade. Recuperado em 3 de maio de 2022, de https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/oilseeds.pdf https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circ... ). A Organização das Nações Unidas para Alimentação e Agricultura (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2021 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - FAO. (2021). OECD-FAO agricultural outlook 2021-2030. Paris: FAO. Recuperado em 3 de maio de 2022, de https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/agriculture-and-food/oecd-fao-agricultural-outlook-2021-2030_19428846-en https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/agricultur... ) projeta um crescimento para soja de 1,1% a.a. até 2030, podendo atingir ao final dessa década 411 milhões de toneladas, mais que o dobro da produção combinada das demais oleaginosas (colza, girassol e amendoim), prevista para 179 milhões de toneladas.