Ioannis?
Ioannis Karyotis: Thank you, George. Please turn to Slide 9. The global focus on food security should benefit agricultural exports from South America. In the first nine months of 2022, grain exports through our port in Uruguay were 45% higher than the same period last year, mainly driven by higher Uruguayan exports of soybeans. According to the USDA, the 2022/’23 South American soybean crop should continue to strengthen. Importantly for our grain terminal, Paraguayan crop production is expected to recover from a difficult 2021/’22. The outlook for mineral transportation and transshipment is positive. We see revived interest in exploiting mineral assets in the Guruma region of Brazil, which are then transited through the Hidrovia river system.
We expect J&F will increase production from the mines recently acquired from Vale, driving more actual volumes through our terminal. To other regional iron ore producers, Vetria and 4B Mining, both use our terminals to export iron ore currently mainly into Europe. We believe that this increase in interest will not only benefit our port and barge business directly, but also will create new opportunities for revenue growth. In the last couple of years, low water in the Parana and Paraguayan rivers made navigation difficult, adversely affecting our barge business. In 2022, water level improved compared to both 2020 and 2021, yet is still below the historical average. In addition, the poor Paraguay and soybean crop in 2022 reduced demand for dry cargo bulk transportation.
The cabotage market conditions are improving. In the 9 month period, our fleet employment increased 13% compared to the same period last year and charter rates are gradually improving following the strong targeted market internationally. I would now like to turn the call over to Enrique Ferrando, Navios Logistics CFO, for the discussion of the financial results.
Enrique Ferrando: Thank you, Ioannis. Please turn to Page 10. Q3 2022 adjusted EBITDA was $29.1 million, 25% higher compared to the same quarter last year. Port segment adjusted EBITDA grew 32% to $25.8 million, mainly driven by a 38% increase in the grain port throughput attributed to higher Uruguayan export of soybeans higher tariffs at the iron ore port terminal following the annual inflation adjustments embedded into our Vale contract, as well as increased iron ore throughput from the clients 4B Mining and Vetria. In the segment, Q3 2022 adjusted EBITDA decreased 73% to $0.5 million, mainly due to low demand on dry cargo. In the cabotage business, Q3 2022 adjusted EBITDA increased by $1 million to $2.9 million due to more operating days of the fleet as the market environment in Argentina has improved compared to last year, following a recovery of the demand after the end of the lockdowns.
For Q3 2022, adjusted profit was $4.8 million compared to $4.3 million loss in the same period last year, mainly due to improved port segment performance and lower income tax on the Argentinian operations. Turning to the financial results for the nine month period ending September 30, 2022. Revenue increased 16% to $201.9 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 24% to $85.3 million and adjusted profit increased by $13.4 million to $10.8 million compared to the same period last year. Please turn to Slide 11. Navios Logistics has no significant debt maturities until 2025. Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the third quarter of 2022 were $52.8 million. This concludes my presentation. I would like now to turn the call over to Angeliki for her final comments.
Angeliki?
Angeliki Frangou: Thank you, Enrique. This completes our formal presentation for the Q3 results. Thank you very much.
Operator:
