Port Authority Wants Ecoporto Terminal Left Unchanged in Santos

The STS10 container terminal area has been the focus of much contention at the Port of Santos and within the Federal Government, and now, the Ecoporto terminal has seemingly entered a similar path. The President of the Santos Port Authority (APS), Anderson Pomini, announced on the 29th that he is considering a smaller-scale STS10 container terminal that would leave room for the Concais passenger terminal (whose relocation is deemed certain) and allow  Ecoporto to stay put in its current location.

“We will consult the Federal Audit Court – TCU the possibility of renewing the contract with Ecoporto, including a land swap clause,” Pomini said. “After the STS10 auction, Ecoporto would have two or three years—the time needed to implement this terminal—to relocate within the same port area,” he continued.

Pomini stressed that this measure is crucial to “preserving jobs and maintaining a company that handles general cargo.”

Pomini’s remarks came after the Santos, São Vicente, Guarujá, and Cubatão Dockworkers’ Union (Sindestiva) scheduled a protest for last Friday at 8:30 a.m. in front of the APS headquarters (Avenida Rodrigues Alves, in the Macuco neighborhood) to demonstrate against the end of Ecoporto and the STS10 auction and in favor of maintaining a public quay.

Sindestiva invited representatives of other port worker organizations to join the demonstration. The union’s president, Bruno dos Santos, stated that the protest aimed to draw the attention of the Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor) to the potential rise in unemployment for these workers. According to him, the public quay provides jobs for most temporary workers, and Ecoporto employs more than 500 permanent staff who are likely to be laid off when the lease agreement ends.

Regarding the STS10 auction, Mr. Santos advocates keeping public berthing spaces and cargo loading and unloading spaces public. He expressed concerns about the uncertainties surrounding the terminal’s future.

The Sindestiva president emphasized the potential job losses for dockworkers if a container terminal is established at STS10. “Temporary workers only get work at the public quay. A container terminal would eliminate our workforce,” he added.

The chart below uses DataLiner data to compare long-haul container imports and exports at the Port of Santos between January 2021 and June 2024.

Santos Container Movement | Jan 2021 – Jun 2024 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Uncertainty

On August 21, during an event in which some public terminals were bid off to private parties, Minister of Ports Silvio Costa Filho commented he plans to hold the STS10 auction in 2025. However, the next day in Santos, he was less definitive about the timeline. Earlier, on August 1, the APS president had indicated that the STS10 project would not be viable for at least four years, revealing a disconnect between the two statements.

As for Ecoporto, owned by Ecorodovias, the minister told Valor Econômico that “there is already a decision not to renew” the lease, though he did not confirm this when speaking to A Tribuna. Ecoporto’s lease expired in 2023 and has been extended thrice, with the latest extension running until December.

A Tribuna

Clique aqui para ler o texto original: https://www.atribuna.com.br/noticias/portomar/autoridade-portuaria-quer-manter-ecoporto-em-santos-1.432149

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