By Ana Mano
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – A cargo of Louis Dreyfus Company soymeal destined for export from the southern Brazilian port of Paranagua was returned for reprocessing at one of the company’s local plants, the grain processor told Reuters on Wednesday.
LDC declined to provide details such as the timeline of the refusal, size of cargo and destination, or the nature of the issue with the cargo.
However, a person with knowledge of the matter said LDC’s soymeal was sent by trucks to the port but subsequently rejected last week for containing impurities.
Brazil’s ability to track agricultural commodities cargoes has come under heightened scrutiny after China suspended five local soybean exporters, citing product non-conformities earlier this month.
“The Louis Dreyfus Company clarifies that, with regard to the aforementioned cargo, given the absence of any type of adulteration or harmful agents, it carried out the procedure established in current legislation, returning the cargo for reprocessing,” the company said in a statement.
The port authority did not have an immediate comment on LDC’s soymeal.
The refusal of LDC’s soymeal came after authorities at the port of Paranagua said on Tuesday 51 truck-loads carrying 2,200 tons of soymeal were turned down for “product adulteration”, without naming the companies involved.
LDC said none of its soy processing plants in the states of Parana, Mato Grosso and Goias had sent allegedly contaminated soymeal products to Paranagua.
The source said the soymeal cargo’s origin was LDC’s factory in Ponta Grossa in the state of Parana.
(Reporting by Ana Mano in San Paulo; Editing by Nia Williams)
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