APM Terminals renews lease of Port of Itajaí under provisional contract

The continuity of APM Terminals’ operations on mooring berths 1 and 2 of the Port of Itajaí, located on the northern coast of Santa Catarina state, was made official on Friday, December 9. The port’s superintendence signed the provisional lease agreement, which guarantees the maintenance of activities until the end of the privatization process under which the port should be submitted.

The mayor of Itajaí, Volnei Morastoni, was presented at the contract-signing event alongside Aristides Russi Junior, the superintendent of APM Terminals Itajaí. The document was electronically signed by the superintendent of the port, Fábio da Veiga, who is on a trip.

The City Office had been seeking to implement the transition contract since July when a municipal delegation went to Brasilia to visit the National Secretariat of Ports and Waterway Transportation to discuss the renewal of APM Terminal’s hold over the city terminals.

The contract will be valid from January 2023 onward and guarantees the continuity of the works at the terminal.

“The signing of this contract today is critical for the continuation of the operations in our port while the Federal Government does not complete the privatization process of the terminal, which will define the new port operator of the Port of Itajaí for the coming decades. However, the process is unfortunately delayed,” Morastoni recalls.

The information that APM would continue to carry out the service had already been disclosed in early November. At the time, the deputy mayor, Marcelo Sodré (PDT), together with the superintendent of the Port of Itajaí, Fábio da Veiga, participated in a series of meetings at Antaq, in Brasília.

The situation of the Port of Itajaí draws the attention of the city’s political, business, and working class, due to the significant involvement of the local economy with the port.

“[APM Terminals] is a company that has been in our city for a long time, which creates an appeal over workers and civil society towards its permanence. Therefore, after all the required technical and legal steps conducted by the Port Superintendence, we are happy to announce that the contract has been signed,” explained the mayor.

“We are taking risks as the moment demands, but we couldn’t leave the Port of Itajaí behind. Since the onset of the negotiations, our local and regional team is focused on regaining the market,” stressed the superintendent-director of APM Terminals Itajaí.

Please find below Itajaí’s container exports compared to imports between Jan 2019 and Oct 2022, according to the DataLiner service by Datamar.

Itajaí exports and imports | Jan 2019 – Oct 2022 | TEUs

0Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

The company CTIL Logística had won the contract in a provisional bidding process held earlier in the year. However, the start of activities could take at least six months, compromising the continuity of cargo movement operations at the port.

There were also concerns on the part of the business sector with a possible lack of expertise from CTIL Logística.

The area that will remain under the control of APM corresponds to area A, with berths 1 and 2. Area B, in the so-called Public Port, continues waiting for a new lessee who can attract more cargo to the port.

Source: NDMAis

To read the full original article, please go to: https://ndmais.com.br/economia/porto-de-itajai-assina-contrato-de-arrendamento-provisorio-com-apm-terminals/

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