EU-South America container volumes fell in three of the first five months of 2026, including a 10.6% year-on-year drop in January, despite the EU-Mercosur trade deal entering force. In contrast, LatAm-to-EU trade grew 9.2%, 4.8%, 12.7%, 0.1%, and 10.8% across those same months, building on 2025’s 8.7% annual growth. Forwarders report rising quotation requests from European shippers targeting Latin America, especially in automotive, machinery, and pharma sectors. Meanwhile, South American exporters cite strong demand in Europe for coffee, fruit, refrigerated cargo, foodstuffs, pulp, and leather — though capacity constraints and the EU’s May 2026 beef export ban pose near-term headwinds.
European shippers have yet to experience any sort of benefit from this year’s EU-South America trade deal, volumes actually declined in three of the first five months of the year – although there are signs of a bump to come.
Downward trend in EU-to-LatAm container volumes
Container Trades Statistics (CTS) data, which runs two months in arrears, shows EU-South America volumes dropped precipitously in January by 10.6% year on year, with subsequent falls of 5.9% and 2.4% in February and March.
Despite this, forwarders told The Loadstar that while there had been “no immediate impact from the EU-Mercosur deal, we are already experiencing a marked uptick from new European customers for quotations for shipping goods to the LatAm countries”.
“We expect the growth to be gradual but consistent, and we are fairly confident that once volumes start flowing, they will be there for the long-term,” — Forwarder, speaking to The Loadstar
The same forwarder added that automotive, machinery, and pharmaceuticals and chemicals seemed to be “where the action is”.
Strong momentum in LatAm-to-EU direction
In the reverse direction, the picture is markedly more impressive, with growth of 9.2%, 4.8%, 12.7%, 0.1% and 10.8% for the first five months, the LatAm-to-EU trade clearly sustaining the momentum recorded over 2025.
Every month of last year saw that trade grow, from a volume perspective, ending the year 8.7% up on 2024, with forwarders telling The Loadstar the trade had “been on fire”, with surging demand out of Europe for South American perishables.
“These commodities are proving to be the engines of growth this year too,” one Brazilian forwarder told The Loadstar, “with the main sales into Europe revolving around coffee, fruit, refrigerated cargo, other foodstuffs, and pulp and leather.”
The forwarder added: “With the deal between the EU and South America, we are expecting volumes to keep up the momentum that has been recorded over the past 18 months, but there could be some issues with capacity in the short term.”
Pricing dynamics reflect delayed market response
On the pricing front, capacity by and large cost the same in January and February as it had 12 months earlier, before a slight dip of 1.5%, year on year, in both directions in March, followed by 3% and 1.5% increases in April and May, respectively,
Forwarders noted that the EU decision to ban Brazilian beef exports — announced in May 2026 — introduced additional uncertainty just as duty relief under the EU-Mercosur Agreement began taking effect, further dampening near-term export confidence from Europe.
Source: The Loadstar
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
