Santos goes supersize

The new liquid bulk terminal will be able to handle 1.2m tonnes of bulk liquids, primarily ethanol, while the box terminal will add 2.2m teu to existing capacity when fully built out – at present Santos, although the largest port in Brazil by far, handles just over 2.5m teu.

The container terminal is being built by Brasil Terminal Portuário (BTP), a joint venture involving Terminal Investment Limited and APM Terminals, who gained a 50% share in the Santos operation last year.

Soren Sjostrand Jakobsen of APM Terminals points to the challenge being set by the lines. “Hamburg Sud, MSC and Maersk are all starting to bring 9,000 teu ships into the region, and there is a shortage of capacity and equipment to deal with the future market,” he told Port Strategy.

However, the new facility is not aimed particularly at the transhipment market. “Brazil is on a very positive developmental path,” said Mr Jakobsen, “so although we will be looking at some transhipment, the trade that we see coming in is mostly stable gateway traffic, built on Brazil’s inward draw, and balanced nicely between imports and exports.”

The first part of the construction process involved $100m environmental works as the facility is being built on the former Alemoa dump site; “Soil remediation was a decisive factor in BTP winning the original bid,” said Mr Jakobsen, although land processes have been a somewhat complicated affair, partially as it involved acquiring a number of land leases from the previous holders.