Good day, everyone, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Santos Brasil Third Quarter 2023 results conference call. Present with us are the Financial and Investor Relations Director, Daniel Pedreira Dorea, and the Commercial Director, Ricardo dos Santos Buteri. At this time, all participants are connected as listeners only. Ensuing this, there will be a question and answer session when further instructions will be provided. I would like to remind you that the earnings release and presentation are available on the company's investor relations website, where a recording of this event will be made available. Before proceeding, please bear in mind that any forward-looking statement that may be made about the business prospects of Santos Brasil, as well as projections and operational and financial targets, constitute beliefs and assumptions of the company and are based on information currently available. Forward-looking statements are no guarantees of performance as they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and they refer to events that may or may not occur. Investors and analysts should understand that general conditions, industry conditions, and other operating factors may affect the company's future results and lead to results that differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. I would now like to turn the floor over to Mr. Dorea, who will begin the presentation. Mr. Dorea, you may proceed. Well, good morning, and thank you all for your attendance. I hope you are all well. Beside me today, our Commercial Director, Ricardo Buteri. Exceptionally, our CEO, Antonio Carlos Sepúlveda, will not be taking part in today's results conference call, as he is accompanying the Brasil Export International Mission to Singapore. With regard to the results themselves, our view is that the third quarter 2023 represents a turning point for Santos Brasil. In a year which on the one hand, proved to be challenging in terms of the volumes operated, on the other hand, rewarded the strategy outlined some years ago for growing profitability and the main financial indicators of the business. In our business, volume is a variable over which the company has little or no control, so we focus on rebuilding prices in key activities and in logistic services, besides consuming costs and expenses more efficiently. As a result, in consolidated terms, the EBITDA margin expanded almost 7 percentage points year-on-year, and EBITDA reached BRL 258 million, a growth of 19% vis-à-vis the third quarter 2022. Net profit totaled BRL 139 million in the quarter, an increase of 31% year-on-year, with a net margin of 26%, and this despite the retraction of 10% year-on-year in container volume, with Tecon Santos handling 9% less containers, with a drop of more than 10% in the import flow. Nothing helped us on this side of the equation, but we still delivered a growing result. In other words, we feel that we have done our duty and are confident that Santos Brasil will reap even better results in the near future. The company is navigating a balanced business environment and has the right size to capture operational gains. Some operational and financial aspects worth highlighting considering the third quarter 2023. Firstly, even with a normalized seasonality and therefore a strong peak season, despite the impact of the implementation, we were not able to close the gap that began since the first quarter. This is a reality we will have to live with in 2023. The positive side is that there is a recovery underway since the second quarter this year. If 2023 began with a drop of 14% drop in the first quarter, we believe it should close at -8% - - 4% in 2023, which reflects a fourth quarter with good volumes. We have already disclosed the operating data for October. Despite this, if we look only at the container terminal division, the EBITDA margin reached 57% in the third quarter 2023, even pending some contract negotiations, an increase of 7.3 percentage points compared to the third quarter 2022. In relative terms, the EBITDA growth was 21% year-on-year, totaling BRL 229 million in the container terminals. Another relevant point is to look at Santos Brasil Logística's quarterly results. EBITDA totaled BRL 26 million of 12.6% compared to the third quarter 2022, even with a drop in net revenue and a volume stored in our warehouses 16% lower year-on-year, not to mention the drop in dwell time. This is the result of two main factors. First, serving higher value-added segments and niches, maintaining a high average ticket and avoiding surrendering to the price war in the Port of Santos back area. Secondly, a stringent control of costs and expenses. By the way, speaking of costs and expenses, since May of this year, we have started an extensive process of matrix budgeting with in-depth analysis of data that will exceed BRL 600 million a year. Our aim is not simply to cut costs like fingernails, but to understand in depth how each of these line items consumes input and at what price it contracts. The ultimate goal is to make Santos Brasil a benchmark in cost and expense control. You can see that these costs and expenses are declining, except in the corporate area, where we are still carrying some expenses that are not perennial, and you will observe that they have begun to be reduced year-on-year. Regarding the liquid terminal, we are about to celebrate one year of operation and are satisfied with the results achieved, despite the small scale and the restrictions in customs which limit our commercial activities. In any case, the terminals in operation are already making a positive contribution to the company's consolidated results, with good occupancy of the capacity offered. The investment plan in Itaqui is on schedule, and by the third quarter 2024, we should double our current capacity, reaching 110,000 cubic meters, and by the end of 2025, we will reach a total of 190,000 cubic meters at the Port of Itaqui when the greenfield terminal starts operating and construction work is underway. In this two-year cycle, Santos Brasil will be able to have one third of the quarter of the Itaqui Port. Finally, it's worthwhile to mention that Santos is investing in the expansion of other terminals. We invested BRL 113 million, of which BRL 69 million were in the liquid bulk terminals of the company. This phase of CapEx should become intensified in the fourth quarter of the year, when we will receive and commission 2 ship-to-shore quay cranes and 8 electric RTGs that are already on the way from China. Now, these electrified RTGs mark the start of the terminal's energy transition process. Tecon Santos is being prepared to be the major capacity provider for the future demand of the Port of Santos, with gains in efficiency and productivity to increase its competitive edge. At the end of the third quarter of 2023, we had BRL 570 million in cash and cash equivalents, and net cash of BRL 147 million. The capital structure continues to be optimized, now already reflecting the financing raised with the Banco do Nordeste, which will cover 80% of the CapEx of the liquid terminals at the Port of Itaqui, and in addition, with the remuneration of our shareholders' capital, whose distribution of earnings has already reached BRL 265 million between dividends and interest on capital based on the 2023 results, reinforcing Santos Brasil position as a high payer of dividends. Very well. These were my initial remarks. Ricardo Buteri and myself are at your entire disposal to begin the Q&A session, and once again, I would like to thank you for your attendance. Well, thank you all. We will now begin the question and answer session. For those who wish to pose a question, please use the Raise Hand icon, which is located at the bottom of the screen. This will enable us to turn on your microphone. If you wish to send your questions in writing, you can do it through the Q&A icon, also at the bottom of the screen. The written questions will also be responded live. Our first question comes from Vitor, from Bradesco. Vitor, you may proceed. Well, good morning and congratulations for the results. I have two questions. The first, referring to the guidance and volumes. Well, you have already disclosed this on YouTube and what you realized in the first 10 days of November and what you have as a lineup, can we consider as part of that guidance for volume that you're pointing towards the middle of the guidance? If you could remark on this. The second question If you could remark further on what is happening with STS-10, and when you believe the government will finally take a position in terms of what will happen in 2024? Thank you. Vitor, good morning. This is Ricardo Buteri, and thank you for your question. I'm going to answer the first question referring to the guidance. Very quickly, some background so that we can recall what has been happening. In the first quarter, we had an average of volume handled at Tecon Santos of 77,000 containers, a semester with a retraction, showing the levels that we would have for 2023 and the challenge in terms of volume. In the second quarter, we worked with 88,000 containers. At the last meeting we had with you, we pointed out that in the third quarter, the trend would be positive, would be favorable if compared to the second quarter, and that we saw an upward trend, and this was confirmed. We ended the third quarter with 99,000 containers handled on average. When you think about the volume guidance with a view towards the fourth quarter, as Daniel mentioned, the figures of October have been disclosed. We worked with 102,000 containers only at Tecon Santos, which means that in the fourth quarter, we will have a growth compared to the background that I have just shared. This about the terminal in Santos. Now, what enables us to have this positive belief is the following, Vitor: at the Port of Santos, we have a total of 42 additional stop overs recorded in 2023. Several of these due to the export of cotton and sugar. Of these 42 stopovers, 50% are operated by ourselves, Santos Brasil. But we also have extra calls because of the competition's inefficiency. We have two competitors that are working more with exports, which means that the ships for imports that arrive end up calls to avoid lines in the Port of Santos. Now, in terms of additional calls, because of the competition's inefficiency, we had 12 ships, and this continues on. So we have a November, where we have an accrual of five additional calls in this same scenario, in this same situation. Vitor? Vitor. If you allow me here, with all of this, Vitor, I can say that we would be at -5% or -6% at the end of the year. However, if this pace that Ricardo has just narrated continues, who knows? We will be in the upward part of our guidance. However, week after week, as Ricardo mentioned, we are faced with this. Now, in terms of the STS-10, the scenario is the most present one, the most current one. The migration of the passenger terminal to the area of the Valongo, the Largo that would be closer to that zone where we have, Pelé, the Coffee Exchange, would occupy an important space, and this could occur. We will have an Eco porto, and we will have an area that is disputed for the handling of fertilizers and other general cargo. So nowadays, this is what we have at present. Now, where does this arise from? It arises from an understanding of the government, of the present-day government and the Ministry of the Port, that incumbent with the investments that are being made in Tecon Santos, with an eventual expectation of having an anticipated investment in BTP, that will have to invest in an expansion of capacity, and there is room for expansion there. I believe that these incumbents respond to and heed this short-term demand, and I'm referring to a scenario of 7-10 years. Tecon Santos and others will reach 3.2 million TEUs with an upside if we wish to expand this capacity, and of course, this would address the growth that we expect at the Port of Santos in this coming decade. Now, let's think further ahead, if we can, and the response for that demand in the very long term, we'll refer to the areas in the left margin, the Bagres Island, which will demand an expansion of the organized ports. These are areas that are not occupied on the left margin. There's less densification vis-à-vis the right, where we have the city of Santos, and I think this would respond to the future demands besides the terminal that I have mentioned. This is an understanding, a vision that is appearing, but of course, nothing has been decided, and we continue to communicate this to our shareholders and the market. Well, thank you very much. Our next question comes from Lucas Marquiori from BTG. You may proceed, Lucas. Well, thank you. Good morning, everybody, and thank you for the call. Allow me a follow-up of this question by Vitor. Now, given what you have just mentioned, Ricardo, the understanding of the government that the incumbents would have the capacity to support the need for an increase of demand at the Port of Santos, and that, of course, those who are operating the terminal will be in a positive position. If this incentivizes Santos Brasil to speed up their CapEx program for the coming year for the expansion of the terminal, and what it is that we can expect if you... Or if you're going to have a normal CapEx in 2024, incorporating this desire to have additional capacity in that terminal? This is my first question. The second question, if you could speak about the scenario for a global box rate, we have seen the result of ship owners this semester, an acceleration globally. Now, has this begun to appear in the reviews of box rate for the smaller contracts at Tecon Santos, or is Tecon Santos feeling somewhat pressured by this global scenario of navigation that is somewhat more conservative? Thank you. Good morning, Lucas. I'll answer the question about CapEx. What is important here is the following: We have not changed our investment schedule. We began this phase, phase one, we're now in phase two, in 2019, when the scenario was much more unfavorable for the company. Our mindset is the following, to attempt to map what is demand and to be somewhat ahead of the curve by adding capacity, and this has been proven to be assertive. We're not trying to mix STS-10 with other things, with additional offers of capacity at the Port of Santos. What I'm trying to say is the following. We have said the following: We want to put 2.6 million TEUs of capacity of the Port of Santos at the end of 2024. This is what we're pursuing. This is what we're going to deliver. Of course, there is an interesting point that you make. If our projection for growth here proves to be correct, we will have to go beyond 2.6 million without really being concerned with what the competitors are doing. So we have to carefully dose, look at the capacity based on the demand curve that is expected. Because of all of this noise of STS, we would have stopped investing two years ago when this was a very hot issue and was part of our day-to-day conversations. We would have stopped investing. Now, that's not the mindset of Santos Brasil. Our mindset is how to service the port users with high productivity and operational efficiency, and for this, we require investment that has already been contracted. What we want to do is rationalize the use of capital. We continue to invest. It is possible, yes, that in 2024, we will have a CapEx equal or somewhat superior to that of 2023, but only to service demand, the port. Certainly not as defense for a space that competitors are doing there. Lucas, thank you for your question about the box rate. This is Ricardo. I would like to say the following, in line with what Daniel has said about the company's strategy in terms of CapEx. First of all, there has been no impact and there will be no impact. Our renegotiations are being carried out this month. In the month of October, we closed 3 new contracts for very relevant ship owners, 2 of them in the top 3, and now we're only pending 2 new contracts that should be renegotiated. The proposals are on the table, and they will be concluded the coming week. Because of this, we have the end of the 2023 renegotiation contract, 13 contracts for Santos and 7 for Tecon. Now, that scenario of a retraction of clients globally, Santos Brasil's strategy is very clear. We began a strategic plan to generate capacity in Brazil, in the hub, that is the Port of Santos. We have been adding 200,000 TEUs of capacity every year. 80% of them were negotiated for 2 years, from 2023- 2025. The guarantee of that capacity and the leading service that is important in that negotiation, this is what allows the tickets and not only the box rate to become perpetual with a closed amount until the end of 2025. This is not a timely negotiation or a short, short cycle negotiation, and a reduction of sea freight is against Santos Brasil. Shipowners seek us out after the end of these 2-year negotiations to speak about the long term. Their interest in Santos Brasil is to have the guarantee of service to ensure that when the ships arrive in the Port of Santos or another port, that they will have the best level of services contracted through these service agreements. So we're working not only with average tickets and box rates, and you can see that despite the drop of 12 time in storage, although we have returned to a faster dwell time in cargo, our commercial strategy and pricing strategy are guaranteeing results, and this will continue on for a minimum of 2 years, with the renegotiations already carried out. That's very good. Thank you very much. Thank you for the call and have a good day. Our next question comes from Guilherme Mendes from JP Morgan. You may proceed with your question. Good morning, Daniel, Ricardo. Thank you for taking my question. The first question refers to a cost reduction. You have delivered excellent work. Congratulations. What still lies ahead of you? Daniel spoke about the holding costs, and if you could summarize in terms of what would be a normalized margin for 2024 and going forward, and an eventual balance in Imbituba. Hello, Guilherme. Well, there is more to come. Now, the gain here is the following: We are attempting to understand, and this is what I said in the speech, how each package will consume factors or inputs. And if we compare this within the company, we set forth guidelines on how to consume this throughout the year. Which is the end result? Gain, current gains, but we're beginning from a base that has already been optimized and is more efficient for 2024. We repeat this process in 2024, and we begin 2025 with a more optimized base. So all of those savings are being taken advantage of throughout the life of the company. We're not just cutting costs. We want to become a benchmark in the efficiency of costs and expenses, and you will observe this. Of course, we have to make adjustments in volume, but you will see that these costs will not rise very much anymore. This is the mindset. There's more to come, of course, and you see this in logistics. I think that in logistics, this is ever clear. There was a drop in revenue there. In terms of margins, in the margin of 48%, well, this is the margin we will have going forward, up to 50% in consolidated figures. In the terminal, the figure is 57%, and this will rise in the fourth quarter because Santos Brasil needs to have this margin. What we need is volume, a punch of volume.... We have sized the company to work with 100,000 containers here on the average, 100,000 containers per month on average, and we were somewhat below that. There were months where we were at 70,000. So you will see our operational leverage operating in a favorable way, and the margins will expand. So this is work that is underway with the work of the renegotiation of contracts with healthy prices at balanced levels. This is one part. The other part is all of that efficiency that we have on the package, BRL 600 million in costs and expenses, and part of the costs of the company are not manageable. We're working with what is manageable, which is this package of BRL 600 million, and we have also carried out work for seeking greater reductions. Now, the other side of this, in quotation mark, is our operations at the quays with volumes that we hope will change in 2024, 2025, and the company will reach normalized margins of 50% with a bias upwards, and at the other terminals, the margin will be higher than 60%. That is how we're thinking. Let's go to Imbituba. Balance in Imbituba, it has been operating well. I have already mentioned this here with you, with some of you. We have sought to come to a consensus with the Port Secretariat, the Port Authority of the Port of Imbituba, and, and that speaking about the need to rebalance Imbituba to make the terminal feasible for the long term. It's not interesting for Santos Brasil to leave the Imbituba Port and to allow it to remain as a container terminal. There has to be alignment in that search for a consensus and a mechanism that could give legal security to both parties through the Secretariat and the Tribunal of Accounts through which we could finally come to a final design that will make the container terminal of Imbituba feasible and sustainable. You will probably be asking yourself, "Give me a term." I can't give you a term. This is a negotiation that is dependent on several parties and will depend on what will happen at the Court of Accounts. This should take another year, I believe, but once again, we are going to keep you updated in this scenario as we hold further conversations. That was very clear, Daniel. Thank you, and have a good day. Our next question comes from Gabriel Rezende from Itaú. You may proceed. Oi, Daniel. Oi, Ricardo. Good morning, Daniel and Ricardo. Thank you for taking my question. I would like to do a follow-up on Vitor's first question on volumes. We're exploring the data of October. We have seen an advance and improvement for the fourth quarter. At the end of September, there was a non-recurrent event, bad weather, that led to a lot of volumes in September. I would like to know, and if in October you had a benefit, that volume of September slipping into October, and perhaps this did not happen. The issue of bad weather, did it have a positive effect? And if you had stronger volumes of Imbituba, and I would like to know if this would be a recurrent level. We had that feeling that this was simply a timely increase at the Port of Imbituba. I have a second point, that refers to the medium long term. If you could speak about the company's capital allocation, there's a high payout already. This is very attractive for investors. The company continues to be the de-leveraged. You have spoken about CapEx with space to remain flat year on year. What is it that the company foresees as a trend in capital allocation? Are you going to pay dividends? I understand there are no M&As that will take place in the midterm. If you could explore this further to pique our interest. Thank you. Gabriel. Gabriel, this is Ricardo. I will answer your first two questions on volume in September/October and Imbituba. Speak about volume, Gabriel. The closing of the port did not have a relevant impact. We're referring to 3,000-4,000 containers or 2 ships that were not able to enter the port, but we did finish that call within the month. Now, that rollout between one month and another was, oh, 3,000-4,000 containers. The impact of October, therefore, was not that relevant. Now, despite this, and as I mentioned in the last answer, I would like to say that October is strong. Still speaking about Santos, that comes from maintenance of the number of additional calls that we're performing, because this is the terminal with the largest capacity of work working with ships, so we can deal with additional demand once again, due to the inefficiency of competition that is not able to attract up for ships that is arriving. So the demand in October has been strong, and I think November will maintain the volumes we have had in the last two months. Your question in Imbituba is very important. A terminal prepared to work with 4,000 containers of cabotage had to be serviced by a number of ships at Santa Catarina to be able to unload ship where we had 7,000 additional containers as part of our routine that was only cabotage. So the effort has been incredible to be able to work with the delivery. We have more people, more equipment working there. You asked if this was recurrent because of bad weather, it shouldn't be. We are back to the levels where we only receive ships for cabotage, but there is a work that will be announced in Navegantes for 2024 that will extend for two years. We have already begun. We have started up conversations with ship owners not to receive spot cargos in emergency situations, as happened in October, but to be able instead to have that possibility of having 1 or 2 long-haul services while the expansion is not fully achieved or the investments have not been made. Another non-recurring fact, which is bringing in a differentiated situation for Santos Brasil. Santos Brasil is helping to save Manaus. We have a demand of Vila do Conde of 9-10,000 containers a month. We're working with 12,000 containers per month. Due to the drought, all the demand of Manaus is arriving. It was negotiated with several ship owners, with cabotage, with ships to work with industrialized products and basic inputs. Now, this condition exists differently from that of Imbituba, and we understand that at least in the coming 45-60 days, we will continue to support this amount of volume, and we will work with the demand of Vila do Conde and Manaus. I will now give the floor to speak about capital allocation. Well, Gabriel, our capital allocation is centered on two main fronts. One, CapEx in the portfolio assets, notably Tecon Santos, for the reasons I have explained throughout the call, and Itaqui, also enabling us to remain relevant with scale at the Port of Itaqui. So we continue to allocate capital, and these are significant investments for those two assets. Logistics receives a part, Vila do Conde another part, but the priorities are Itaqui and the Port of Santos. We have another current, which is the payback of shareholder capital through equity interest and the payout of dividends. Yes, we have paid out everything that is possible from the results to our shareholders. Santos Brasil is in a very good position. We have more liquidity than we can pay out. We have an analysis underlying this on how to carry out a larger payout of capital to shareholders, given that limitation we have of distributing our net profit. Our mindset, therefore, is focused on those two pillars or factors, capital allocation, and to take advantage of what was said with M&As, with new opportunities. We're waiting to see what the government will do, but we're growing containers, we're growing the integrated logistics at the port, much more in an organic way within our capacity and expertise. And in the liquid bulk terminals, of course, we're paying attention. When we carried out the follow-on, we should recall that the interest rate was at 2%. Presently, we're almost at 13%, so the cost of opportunity, the cost of capital has changed, and our mindset has changed in terms of what will bring in more value to the company and for the company investors. But of course, we're attentive to opportunities that may appear. Very good. Thank you, Daniel. Thank you, Ricardo, and congratulations for your results once again. Our next question comes from João Frizo from Goldman Sachs. You may proceed. Well, thank you, and thank you for taking my questions. We have two questions here. The first refers to the unit revenues for storage. When we look at this year-on-year, the growth is limited, especially if we compare this with revenues from quays, where you negotiate large contracts, but nothing to impact the segments. So I would like to understand why you have this difference of performance in unit revenues between these two, and what you can expect in terms of storage for the fourth quarter in 2024. The second question refers to a follow-up in terms of the minor contracts you're about to close. I would like to know if the repricing of services, the quays, the storage, is something immediate, or will they take some time to come into effect? These are my two questions. Thank you. João, good morning. This is Ricardo, and thank you for your question. Let's start. Let's speak about the storage revenues or the warehouse revenue. Now, we're living a more challenging scenario than the key. The volume for Brazil have had a retraction, and it's natural that each terminal will increase the retraction of cargo and will not allow the cargo to be stored at the flats or other sites. Now, secondly, there is a difference of approximately three days, three days less in the time of cargo dwell in our bonded warehouses, not only in our bonded warehouses, but everybody else's in Brazil. Now, why is this happening? There's a retraction in demand because the customs process of industry is more agile and there is no logistics bottleneck. Cargos are removed much faster. So the main points that lead to revenues are these two. Now, it's worthwhile recalling the following: The average ticket for warehousing increased by two digits. We have work once again as part of our strategy and the commercial and pricing strategy of the company, and Daniel referred to this. Where we have a strategy, we generate campaigns to identify a mix of cargo with a safe value, ensuring that the average ticket will always be at better levels than previously. If the warehousing revenue drop less than 20% of retraction, it's about this commercial strategy, the pricing strategy, to ensure that these contracts, not with ship owners, directly with those importing or exporting cargos, can be negotiated monthly. We have 9,000 active companies at Tecon Santos, and these contracts every year have a readjustment based on inflation or some other KPI, higher volume, or ensuring that integrated logistics will make sense for them so they can use our assets more. Regarding your question on minor contracts and repricing, let's separate things, quays and warehousing. The repricing of minor contract for quays with shipo wners, all of them have been concluded based on the same strategy, the same level and margin conditions that you have seen. Since the first contract in March of this year, there has been no difference. Whether they have smaller or larger volumes, the strategy is the same, and we had new prices. Now, if the contract matures in September, for example, the new price table will become valid as of October 1st. If we have a contract that will be negotiated in October, that was finalized on October 25, the invoicing is retroactive based on the new table negotiated, how it works. Now, regarding the warehousing contracts, there truly is a monthly control on this, a meeting in terms of the effectiveness of sales. We look at the minimum that we charge, the date of the contract, and the percentages of readjustment, not only for the Port of Santos, but for entire Brazil. These are contracts that are separate from the quay, and they are discussed every month and readjusted directly with the client. Super clear. That was very clear. Thank you very much. Our next question come from Lucas Barbosa from Santander. You may proceed. Good morning, Daniel, Ricardo. We have two questions that are in. First, about pricing, as you have had a very good evolution in your key contracts for the next cycle, would you speak about the difference in the price increase between type of cargo, type of service, and the price of full containers seems to have increased more than other containers? We don't see this because of the less favorable mix this year. I would like to see this in the result. The second question about drivers to enhance volume. In the third quarter, you had the peak season, seasonality aiding and abetting you. Now, how is this helping in terms of volume, and how can it help in 2024? Perhaps we will see other effects, not only the industry, perhaps less negative effects in warehousing for the industry, the automotive industry, helping you with a better cycle of credit. What has improved so far in terms of volume, and what do you expect in the coming quarters and 2024? Thank you. Lucas, thank you for the question. This is Ricardo. You're correct in your analysis in terms of the pricing for the quays for 2 years. They have already been defined, but there are differences. Transshipment, for example, has to have a more competitive price compared to a full container. These cargoes that come from gateway are taken off a long-haul ship and are being loaded for cabotage the following day. Obviously, because of compliance with all of our clients, I cannot refer to percentages charged for each type of service that is renegotiated. Not to speak about the box rate, an empty container has gained more relevance than it had in the past. This is natural. It's common to see in the market an empty container that has to be handled. It is 50% of the price of a full container. We have been able to reduce the disparity. We have better rates. Now, transshipment is more competitive, even though there was a retraction of -8% of transshipment at the Port of Santos. Santos, Brazil, has 62% of the market share of all of the port transshipment. It's a type of activity that because of our capacity, because of the number of cranes, is relevant, and it is very helpful to ship owners. It gives them greater flexibility in terms of long haul and cabotage. The average ticket did have a growth. I won't refer to the box rate, and therefore, a full container has become very relevant for us. Transshipment, in a situation of balance for the shipo wner and an empty container, has gained relevance in terms of percentages if compared to a full box rate. Now, referring to the industries or the segments, I can say the following: We observe a resumption for the last two months of cotton and sugar, and this has been very significant. The exports of sugar to China had a growth of over 2,000% when we compare the third quarter 2023 with the third quarter of 2022. The volumes are expressive, and this because of the rupture in their harvest and the restriction of India of selling more sugar to the world. So Brazil has become a highly important player, more than it was, because of this, these volumes required for sugar. And in cotton, we have observed a recovery in the last months, an increase of 16%, despite a drop. But there's growth in the last two months of 16%, still recording a drop of 22%. So I would highlight in So I would highlight in exports, sugar, alcohol, and beef. But the quarter had a greater drop than in 2022. Now, when we talk about imports, Lucas, what goes to have resiliency since the beginning of the year in the 10 main segments are electrical appliances. They have had an increase of 25%. The normalization of the chain of production with chip has brought back this segment. We see a better segment this year, besides, of course, the solar panels. This will continue on in 2024 with the imports of solar panels. In imports, where we see a very good trend, we have the machine segment, agricultural implement machines, to support the growth of the harvest and agribusiness, as well as equipment used in civil construction. In the automotive industry that you asked about, it has maintained its performance. It had a drop in the third quarter, and the drop was observed in all of the trades, not only for parts and pieces, but also for vehicles. This is the scenario of exports and the segments that should pose an opportunity in 2024. That was very clear, Ricardo. Thank you very much. Have a good day. Our next question comes from Pedro Bruno from XP. You may proceed, Pedro. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for taking my questions. I would like to go back to the volumes that are not container volumes and go back to the guidance review. I think that the warehousing point has been clarified. When we look at the guidance review, your expectation is to remain in terms of the same volumes you had in the former guidance, while in the EBITDA, we saw a review below the previous range. So why haven't you forecast a drop? I was going to bring up the point of the Vehicle Terminal and warehousing. Warehousing has been fully explored here, but which will be the dynamic of the Vehicle Terminal? To speak about a broader context, where is your disillusion because of warehousing that has a great deal to do with the volumes of the quays? The two points that Ricardo has just explained. That is the first question. I then have a more specific question. Pedro, how are you? This is Daniel. Allow me to speak about the guidance. There are two effects here. One, the volume of a container handle that is at -8% and -4%. It was at +8% formerly, and therefore, in the guidance, it is contained in the previous interval. That's correct, except that the cargo mix was deteriorated vis-a-vis the original company's projection, and this is where the difference lies. When we look at warehousing, if we look at warehousing in Tecon Santos, there was a drop in the nine months of 2023 of 18% vis-à-vis the nine months of 2022. If we go to logistics, there's a drop of 18%, which means that imports have suffered much more than all of the other components of the cargo mix for the company. Import is a strong revenue generator in warehousing and logistics services associated to import and cargo, and this is where the deterioration lies in terms of our results and for the cargo mix. It's not only based on a volume review, it is volume and how this cargo mix behaved throughout the year, and this has a relevant impact on our EBITDA projection. Ricardo says that the average ticket was increased. It's true, but the volume had a significant drop, and this ratio is not sufficient when we look at the cargo mix deterioration. Pedro, I will speak about the Vehicle Terminal in your question about our present-day expectations. First of all, we have to be aligned in the following. The comparative base of 2022 was very high. It was a record in this asset, a historical record. When you come out of a historical base of invoicing, you can imagine that the expectations will be more accentuated in the case of a retraction. Now, the reduction of volume from Argentina, which are the main players for Brazil, was of 86% in exports because of the exchange rate difference and the political situation. Other relevant markets that had gained market share in 2022, like Chile and Colombia, had drops of 70%-80% as well. This was the main reason that led us to having a retraction of 30% in the number of vehicles invoiced. There is a positive point that we have observed with a certain recurrence in the last three months. This comes from the Mexican market, especially the exports to the Mexican market, that had a growth of 32%, with the Port of Santos responsible for one-third of those shipments. We have several assembly plants that are working with exports from Brazil, Mexico, and from there they transfer these vehicles to the United States. We have an expectation that after the elections, things will become easier in Argentina. It's very difficult to foresee this, but we hope that Mexico will be a winner at this moment of a very weak amount of volume, not only in Santos, but throughout Brazil, and this because of some countries that are not doing very well. The export of vehicles in Brazil, Pedro, based on the Comex source that we have as a partner, recorded a drop of 45% compared to the third quarter of 2023 and the third quarter of 2022. When we look at imports, although they are much lower, they're also at the level of 30%. So this is what we are facing in terms of the Vehicle Terminal. The average ticket, despite the retraction, is higher. Higher because of three contract renegotiations and the selection of a new service that we have, the port operation docking of ships that formerly was not our service. We requested it from the Port Authority, and this is the current scenario regarding the Vehicle Terminal. A last question. It's difficult to understand your aliquot here. There seems to be a mismatch between what is effective and what is deferred. We would like to understand if there's something different that we should if, expect for coming quarters. Hello, Pedro. In this case, you have the tax shields for the equity interest and deferred credits that we have used. This is the expectation, explanation for the difference in the aliquot s for the quarter. There is a balance, so the effective aliquot will continue to be lower because these consolidated credits that we are recovering will be, offset during 12 months. So there will be a positive impact on the effective aliquot of income tax and social contribution on pro fit. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ricardo and Daniel. Our next question comes from Lucas Ribeiro. He says, "Maersk has brought a very hard message on the sector, holding back expenses and investments for a period that will be of significant difficulty for the maritime freight. How does this impact Santos, or will the reality of the terminals be different with the end of alliance between MSC and Maersk have an impact on the ecosystem of the Port of Santos for terminals in the midterm? Thank you." Lucas, thank you for your question. Of course, as you have, we are fully aware of everything that is happening with the shipowners. The success of our customers or clients is our success. We have to work jointly. What I would like to underscore here are challenges that a navigation company that we don't have. I will give you two examples. At our terminal, we have prices based on capacity and service level. We never carry out investment levels of billions to create capacity for the short term, since we've been speaking about Tecon Santos since 1947. Now, when we had the pandemic, and I'm going to refer to Maersk, but this refers to ship owners, there was a boom in demand. The record request for new ships since 2021 that began to arrive in 2023. Now, if these commissionings are delivered and if there is a reduction in trade because of freight issues, of course, the challenge of ship owners will increase compared to that of a service operator in a container terminal. This does not have a direct impact on Santos Brasil. We look at this very cautiously, following up on the number of ships that come here. There has been an increase. There are 549 ships docked at the Port of Santos, compared to 519 last year, but the number of containers has dropped from 1,400 per ship to 1,300. What will this represent for us? We have to follow up on this and see if the routes and the links have been maintained. Now, this ship owner and the other ship owners have a contract with us. On the one hand, we have to commit ourselves to the service levels, and we have a commitment with Santos Brasil as well. We are monitoring this week after week, the volume for each trade, for each route, Europe, Asia, North America, and South America, to see what is happening with each ship owner. We're very attentive to this. We're concerned, but we don't have a direct relationship with sea freight. If it increases or decreases, we have to maintain the capacity of our services for the contracts that have already been signed. As we have no further questions, I will return the floor to Mr. Dorea for his closing remarks. I simply wanted to thank all of you for your attendance. Thank you for your participation, and we'll see you at the next result call for the fourth quarter 2023. Thank you very much. The Santos Brasil conference call ends here. We would like to thank all of you for your attendance. Have a good-