Brazil suspends sulfuric acid storage at Maceió port

The Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPOR) accepted a joint recommendation and decided to annul or revoke the provision that qualified the MAC10 terminal, at the Port of Jaraguá in Maceió, for the handling and storage of liquid bulk cargo, especially sulfuric acid.

The decision responds to a request from the Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU), the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (MPF), and the Alagoas State Prosecutor’s Office (MP/AL), which warned of serious environmental risks, risks to the population, potential for tourism, and fishing activity.

Understand the case

In 2020, the French multinational Timac obtained a license to build a liquid bulk storage terminal through an auction held by the National Waterway Transportation Agency (Antaq). The project aimed to receive and store sulfuric acid to supply the company’s fertilizer plant located in Santa Luzia do Norte, in the interior of Alagoas.

The terminal would be built on an area of almost 8,000 square meters in the port, located between the main urban beaches of the capital.

The Risk: Sulfuric acid is a highly reactive and dangerous substance. In contact with sewage, rivers, and lagoons, it can generate hydrogen sulfide (toxic), and when diluted with water and reacting with metals, hydrogen gas (flammable).

After strong public pressure, the initial environmental authorization to store sulfuric acid at the location was revoked. In May 2024, the DPU, MPF, and MP/AL submitted a joint recommendation. The agencies questioned the lack of a proper environmental impact assessment before qualifying the terminal, since Antaq’s Technical, Economic, and Environmental Feasibility Study (EVTEA) did not assess the risks of the project.

Change in the Contract: Currently, Antaq has acknowledged the possibility of transferring ownership of Timac’s leasing contract to Tecal Terminal de Combustíveis de Alagoas. The transfer process was authorized and is currently under review by MPOR’s legal department. The request submitted by Timac and Tecal proposes removing the specific reference to “sulfuric acid” from the contract, keeping only the cargo profile as liquid bulk.

Source: G1

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