Maersk to invest BRL 5.2 billion in Brazil by 2026

APM Terminals, a subsidiary of the Maersk group, plans to invest BRL 5.2 billion in its port terminals in Brazil by 2026, according to the company’s global president, Keith Svendsen, during his visit to the country this week.

Today, one of the company’s priorities is to attain the early renewal of its contract with the Port of Santos to preserve the terminal BTP [Brasil Terminal Portuário], operated in partnership with TIL (a subsidiary of the MSC group). The company is currently negotiating an extension of the contract with the federal government, which expires in 2027, for another 20 years.

In exchange, the two carriers commit to expanding and modernizing the terminal, investing at least BRL 1.54 billion – an amount that could end up being even higher since BTP’s idea is to invest beyond the minimal requirement. According to the group, the amount could reach R$ 2.2 billion over the next five years.

See below the exports and imports of containerized cargo through the BTP terminal from Jan 2019 and Mar 2023. The data is from DataLiner.

Containerized cargo handling at BTP | Jan 2019 – Mar 2023 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

In Svendsen’s assessment, the Port of Santos is in urgent need of investments that could ensure the deepening of the access channel’s depth, allowing the transit of larger and more efficient ships – and expand the port’s current capacity, which, according to him, is close to the limit.

“The port is 92% full today. Usually, when a port reaches 80% of its capacity, operations start to get tricky. We believe it is necessary to double Santos’ capacity soon, and many projects need to be done. In the short term, our main focus is to expand the terminal [BTP] capacity,” said the president.

In addition to expanding the BTP, APM is interested in building a new container terminal at the port, STS 10, located in an area adjacent to its terminal with TIL.

Under the Bolsonaro administration, the planned construction of the terminal generated controversy centered on APM and TIL’s participation in the auction. In essence, the companies were allowed to compete individually under the norm set in 2022 but not collectively, as in the case of BTP. Still, other port operators were concerned about market concentration in the hands of the two larger shipping companies. Ultimately, the bidding was not taken place and is being reconsidered.

Also, in addition to BTP, APM maintains operations in five port terminals scatted throughout Brazil: Itajaí and Itapoá (both in Santa Catarina; Paranaguá (in Paraná); Rio Grande (in Rio Grande do Sul); and Pecém (Ceará).

The group is also gearing up to build a new terminal in Suape, in Pernambuco, in the area previously occupied by the Atlântico Sul Shipyard, whose acquisition process is already nearing completion. The total planned investment is R$ 2.6 billion. The group’s BRL 5.2 billion strategy envisions allocating BRL 1.6 billion to the terminal, which will be built from the ground up, as the first step.

In addition to the two important investments – in Santos and Suape -, the company’s investment package for Brazil also plans to multiply by five the storage capacity in the Northeast and Southeast of the country, in addition to carrying out improvements in the Itapoá terminal, in logistics and services.

Source: Valor Econômico

Please refer to the following link to read the original news report: https://valor.globo.com/empresas/noticia/2023/05/10/maersk-preve-investimento-de-r-52-bi-em-terminais-ate-2026-1.ghtml

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