São Paulo – The state of Pará (northern Brazil) is going to have a new port, in municipality of Marabá, in the Tocantins River and also a steel mill. Last week, the government of the state signed an agreement with the National Department of Transport Infrastructure (DNIT), for an investment of 76 million reals (US$ 38.8 million) in the port. Mining company Vale do Rio Doce informed that it is going to build a steel mill in the city as well.
Construction work on both the mill and the port should be concluded by 2012. The river port should enable the municipality to develop and help improve the infrastructure of the state, so that it may attract more industries. According to information supplied by the governor of Pará, Ana Júlia Carepa, the state is awaiting the clearing of 344 million reals (US$ 175.8 million), from the National Treasury, for investing in industrial districts.
The funding for the port will come from the Federal Budget. By means of the DNIT, the federal government will participate in the project with 68.4 million reals (US$ 34.9 million), or 90% of the total, and the government of Pará will invest the remaining 10%, the equivalent of 7.6 million reals (US$ 3.8 million), thus totalling 76 million reals. As of now, 5 million reals (US$ 2.5 million) will be cleared for the elaboration of the project’s general guidelines.
The port will have terminals for liquid bulk, solid bulk, and general cargo. The projects will be executed by the Federal University of the State of Pará, and the works will be undertaken by the Ports and Waterways Company (CPH), a public enterprise linked to the State Secretariat for Regional Integration (Seir).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
