The Panama Canal inked an agreement to get Brazilian shippers to use the Canal for their grain cargoes travelling to Asia.

The memorandum of understanding with Aprosoja, a trade association representing soybean and corn producers in the central Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, allows for joint marketing and data efforts "on trade flows to support modernization and improvement programs."

Administrator Jorge Luis Quijano says the Canal's expansion is allowing it to market to a broader array of shipping markets, which include freight from ports in northern Brazil.