(Recasts throughout with disruption)
By Roberto Samora and Ana Mano
SAO PAULO, May 7 (Reuters) - Road and rail links to a major grains port in southern Brazil have been disrupted by the impact of heavy floods, Anec, an association representing global grain exporters including Cargill and Bunge , said on Tuesday.
Rail service to the port has been interrupted while road blockades were forcing trucks loaded with grains to travel an extra 400 kilometers (248.55 miles) through alternative routes to reach the port, increasing freight costs, Anec said.
Cargonave, a shipping agency, said grain arrivals at Rio Grande had slowed after torrential rains battered Brazil's southernmost state, which is a big soy, corn, wheat, rice and meat producer.
Earlier on Tuesday, the port authority said in a statement Rio Grande was "operating normally" as its terminals had not been affected by the rise in the level of the Laguna dos Patos lagoon.
At around 8 a.m. the current was ebbing in the access channel Rio Grande port, allowing water to flow at a speed of about three knots, the equivalent of 5.55 kilometers per hour, the authority noted. The tide table indicated a level of 90 cm above normal.
Grain traders based in Brazil exported about 10.4 million metric tons of soybeans from Rio Grande port in 2023, making it the country's fourth-ranked port for soy shipments, according to shipping data.
Last year, companies also exported about 3.6 million tons of various soy meals from Rio Grande, putting it behind Santos and Paranagua only for this type of product, the data showed.
(Reporting by Roberto Samora and Ana Mano in São Paulo; Writing by Ana Mano; Editing by Franklin Paul and Richard Chang)
((ana.mano@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +55-11-5644-7704; Mob: +55-119-4470-4529; Reuters Messaging: ana.mano.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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