Porto Central Construction Begins in Brazil’s Espírito Santo: BRL 16 Billion Investment

After 10 years of waiting, the construction of Phase 1 of Porto Central, a soon-to-be maritime terminal located in Presidente Kennedy at the southern tip of Brazil’s Espírito Santo, is slated to begin this week. This marks the beginning of a strategic journey for the state’s port industry. The works will commence on Wednesday, December 4.

The announcement was made on Monday morning (December 2). The project is led by TPK Logística and Polimix and covers 2,000 hectares. Moreover, a total of R$16 billion (US$2.9 billion) is expected to be invested in the project.

The project’s first phase will involve removing vegetation from an area of approximately 65 hectares, part of the 2,000 hectares licensed for the project.

This initial phase, costing R$2.9 billion, is expected to be completed by December 2027, when operations will begin. According to Jessica Chan, Porto Central’s commercial manager, the first operations will involve oil transshipment.

This operation involves transferring the product through hoses specially designed for viscous liquid transference between two ships docked together.

With an area of 2,000 hectares—about 100 times the size of the Maracanã Stadium—the port will feature maritime depths of up to 25 meters and 54 berths for operations beyond the oil and petroleum sectors.

The project is designed to accommodate multipurpose terminals and industries intended for handling and storing liquid bulk cargo (such as bunker fuel, gasoline, diesel, ethanol, vegetable oils, and juices), solid bulk goods, grains, fertilizers, minerals, containers, general cargo, natural gas, as well as providing offshore support and shipyard services.

Jessica Chan stated that the port was planned to meet the needs of liquid bulk importers and exporters and to go beyond that.

“Porto Central is already planning the next steps to establish itself as a strategic hub in the Brazilian port sector. In addition to oil transshipment operations planned for as early as Phase 1, the port is prepared and licensed for future expansions and diversification of operations. We are advancing in negotiations and technical studies for new terminals, including a shipyard for decommissioning and sustainable recycling of ships, in partnership with M.A.R.S, and a container hub capable of receiving vessels up to 25,000 TEUs,” explained Jessica Chan.

10-Year Wait

Studies for President Kennedy’s construction of Porto Central began in 2008; since then, the project has been repeatedly refined before construction could begin.

“The environmental licensing process began in 2011, and between 2014 and 2023, we worked hard to meet all the pre-installation requirements and make the project feasible,” explained Angelo Santos, director of Porto Central.

When questioned about the delay in starting the construction, which was initially scheduled for the end of this year, the commercial manager and the director explained that additional studies were necessary.

“The extra time for the start of the works was needed due to the large volume of studies required for this project. There was a vast maritime area that needed to go through surveys and land-based analysis, including environmental and engineering demands. There are over 60 environmental programs involved. It’s a huge project, and it requires a series of studies. The decision to begin was only made after completing all these surveys,” explained Jessica Chan.

Source: Folha de Vitória

Link to original reporting: https://www.folhavitoria.com.br/economia/noticia/12/2024/obras-do-porto-central-comecam-esta-semana-no-es-investimento-de-r-16-bilhoes

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