Mapping Least Cost Transport Corridors for Soybean Exports from Mato Grosso: A Case Study of Logistics from Farm to Port

Brazil and the US are world's largest soybean exporters, and account for more than 80% of the global exports, most of which, destined to China. Hence, the producers of both countries compete directly to place their grain in the same market, and their logistic costs are essential to their competitiveness. For the producers in Mato Grosso (MT), Brazil’s largest producing state and most distant from ports, choosing the bestroute and transport mode materially impacts their competitiveness. The farm to port logistics, which refers to the inland transportation from the agricultural production point to the exporting shipping port, is central to reducing the total logistics costs, and depending on the transport mode choice, also impacts the environment differently. Various studies have evaluated routes or transport modes individually by analysing their impact, and some give an insight into the least cost (LC) choice, yet to the best of our knowledge, there are none determining the detailed spatial geographic boundaries of the optimum choice transport corridors for each micro geographic location within MT.