Brazilian court decides Libra Terminals must continue operations at Santos

The Brazilian Bankruptcy and Judicial Recovery Court have ordered Libra Terminals to continue operations at the Port of Santos. The court said Libra could not close while the company is undergoing a judicial process. The judge, Paulo Furtado de Oliveira Filho, ordered the company to continue its operations and honor all existing contracts. According to Estadão, although the liner companies have already decided to stop operations at the terminal, Libra is required to maintain the minimum movement stipulated within the contract with Codesp, or in other words, continue paying taxes to the port authorities.

DatamarNews reported last week the announcement by the container terminal operator to end commercial activities at the Port of Santos. Libra’s announcement followed its customers’ decision to switch operations to another terminal from May. The decision has put 920 jobs at stake.

With the construction of new terminals in the area, such as DP World (which used to be Embraport) and BTP, Libra’s container throughput was reduced. In addition, the company is also involved in a corruption scandal with bribery allegations linked to former President Michel Temer and the ports decree. The Court of Auditors (TCU) decided to cancel the company’s concession renewal contract which ran until 2035, after considering the scandal.

The following DataLiner graph shows Libra Terminals export trends since 2009: 

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