São Paulo – The port terminals lease auction held by Brazil’s National Agency for Waterway Transportation (Antaq) this Friday (27) at the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa), was won by a consortium led by pulp and paper conglomerate Suzano, the sole bidder. It offered BRL 100,000 for the lease on a terminal at the Port of Itaqui (pictured above), in Maranhão.
Antaq said the facility spans 53,545 sqm and the lease is valid for 25 years. No preexisting infrastructure is in place. The consortium must build wood pulp storage facilities, rail and road access, and a new berth. Maximum capacity is estimated at 1.5 million tons of pulp per year, with a projected BRL 214.8 million in investment.
Port of Itaqui CEO Ted Lago said a Suzano plant in southern Maranhão should make operations easier. “We have a railway system in place. There are three railways serving the port, going from inside the Suzano plant to the edge of the berth. The project will complete this process and afford increased profitability as a whole. Suzano has long-standing experience in the wood pulp process,” he said.
Also on auction, the lots comprising two terminals in Paraná’s Port of Paranaguá, for wood pulp and vehicles, got no bids. Antaq director Mário Povia said this was an opportunity wasted by business owners, since the contract shows great promise and is legally safe. “I did not expect to see no bidders, I do not see a plausible justification,” he said.
*With information from the ANBA Newsroom. Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
