Droughts in the Tietê-Paraná waterway: impacts on the direct, indirect and hidden costs in the transportation of soybean.

Brazil's agricultural economy is growing and increasing productivity. Therefore, it has required transportation systems with high load capacity and lower transportation costs. However, with the drought in the Southeast region of Brazil, the waterway Tietê-Paraná closed since May 2014 generating a loss of more than 30 million last year. Thus, this study investigates the impacts on direct, indirect and hidden costs resulting from this change of route for soy transport. The methodology consists of an exploratory, descriptive and bibliographic research that seeks to raise the main costs. The results show that failing to ensure the production of soybeans by the Tiete-Parana waterway and using the highway transportation costs for waterway users are increased by US$ 37,760,146.86