Port of Suape announces new BRL 1.5 billion ore terminal

The state government of Pernambuco announced, on Monday, Sep. 26, the construction of a Solid Mineral Bulk Terminal in the Port of Suape. The future Private Use Terminal (TUP) will be controlled by the company Planalto Piauí, a Bemisa Brasil Operação Mineral S.A. group member. The Federal Government also authorized the company to build and economically explore the railway EF233 in the 717-kilometer stretch between Curral Novo, in Piauí, and the port in Pernambuco.

The terminal’s construction will require BRL 1.5 billion investments, with an annual throughput expected at 13.5 million tonnes of iron ore.

The terminal venture will occupy an area of 51.8 hectares, and the construction work, which should start in 2025, will generate more than three thousand jobs, both directly and indirectly. Once the project is complete, the terminal will employ 400 people.

The terminal is located within the limits of the Industrial Port Zone on Cocaia Island. The logistical infrastructure bought about by the new terminal is an alternative to the use of the Transnordestina Railway to reach the Port of Suape.

“It will be a fundamental logistics option, which will lower costs and provide conditions for developing various sectors of the Pernambuco economy. The new terminal will further boost the use of Suape, meaning that other states and perhaps even countries will opt to adopt Suape as their production outlet thanks to the enhanced rail logistics,” highlighted Governor Paulo Câmara.

The railroad will make it possible for the business group to export the iron ore it explores in the Curral Novo municipality, where there is a deposit with 800 million tonnes of iron, the largest mineral reserve in that state and one of the largest in the nation.

The director-president of the Port of Suape, Roberto Gusmão, emphasized that establishing the ore terminal in Suape is an essential milestone for the state’s economy. “We are the main port in the Northeast and a hub for cargo, currently distributed by road and cabotage.

The connection rail connection to the port will help the flow of soybeans from Matopiba, the region between Tocantins, Bahia, Piauí, and Maranhão, as well as fruit freight operations from São Francisco, and gypsum from Araripe, in addition to easing the internalization of fuels, cooking gas, containerized cargo, vehicles, among other goods,” he pointed out.

The terminal will be able to receive and ship 50,000 tonnes of ore per day and a maximum volume of 780,000 tonnes for storage in the yard. In addition, the terminal is expected to collect R$ 617.2 million in port fees and a total of R$ 184.5 million for leasing the area during the term of the contract, which is 30 years.

BEMISA – The Bemisa group, one of the largest in the country in the ore field, the private investor, has been discussing the implementation of the terminal with the Government of Pernambuco since 2019 to ship the ore through Suape. Headquartered in Minas Gerais, the company formalized with the Ministry of Infrastructure on September 2 its interest in making the railroad come to fruition. Present in seven Brazilian states, the company is behind nine projects: iron ore, gold, nickel, phosphate, and limestone.

Participating in the ceremony were the CEOs of the Pernambuco Economic Development Agency (Adepe), Roberto Abreu; from the State Environment Agency (CPRH), Djalma Paes; from the Federation of Industries of Pernambuco (Fiepe), Ricardo Essinger; and José Luiz Vidal, board member of Bemisa.

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