São Paulo – Gulftainer, a logistics company of the United Arab Emirates, signed a contract for operations in Recife Port, in Pernambuco, starting in the second half of December this year. The port in the capital city of Pernambuco State, Recife, is the first in Latin America in which the Arab company is operating.
"We negotiated operation in the port directly. It is an operating agreement. In future, according to demand, we may participate in a tender,” said Joseph Bruno, Gulftainer’s general director for Brazil.
The company already has a management office in Recife and is going to install an operating office within the port. According to Bruno, the initial estimate is to have 50 employees working in the administrative, operational and commercial areas.
After its first year in operation in Recife Port, Gulftainer should have a throughput of between 35,000 and 55,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units). "We believe that over the next 12 to 24 months, the port will already be adapted to receive more cargo and larger vessels,” said Bruno, adding that company operations may reach between 80,000 and 100,000 TEU in two years.
According to Gulftainer’s director general in the country, the organisation also plans to expand its operation in other Brazilian ports, but does not reveal the locations. "We are interested in one or two other areas in the Northeast, and one more in the Southeast, but that is in the middle term,” he pointed out. "At the moment, we are focussed on investing in Recife until we reach full capacity.”
The contract for operation in Recife Port is for an undetermined period of time. Gulftainer’s initial investment in equipment is US$ 25 million, including new gantry cranes and two forklifts. Next year, the company should invest further in equipment, adding two new cranes and two to four new forklifts.
The Port of Recife’s forecast is that the turnover operated by the Arab company should generate annual revenues of 3.2 million Brazilian reals (US$ 1.7 million), representing growth of 15% over current revenues. The Port had not been receiving containers for seven years, and operations returned in September this year, after a contract signed with a company from São Paulo, in the southeast of the country.
Gullftainer
Gulftainer is a private company, which belongs to UAE Ports & Logistics Company. Established in 1976, it is responsible for the container terminals of Khorfakkan and Port Khalid, in Sharjah, for the operation of Ruwais port, in Abu Dhabi, and also for another five ports outside the Emirates, in the Comoros, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Russia.
*Translated by Mark Ament
