BTP projects turning green by 2030 with BRL 1.9 bi investment at Santos Port

Brazil Terminal Portuário (BTP) will increase its operational capacity at the Port of Santos by 40% over the next three years. Nearly BRL 1.9 billion will disbursed for acquiring electrical equipment and automating gates to streamline truck access to the container terminal. The investment package, agreed with the government as part of the 20-year lease renewal until 2047, also includes the company’s goal to make the terminal green by 2030.

“All the equipment purchased will be electric from now on. Our RTGs (rubber-tired gantry cranes) and terminal tractor trucks are diesel-powered, but as we replace the fleet, we will have electric equipment. Our ambition is to be a carbon-neutral terminal from 2030,” said BTP CEO Ricardo Arten. The company’s terminal is located in the Alemoa region on the Right Bank of the Port of Santos.

“Currently, we have eight portainers, and we will buy four more, totaling 12. We will expand the RTGs fleet that moves containers from the truck to the stack and from the stack to the truck. Currently, we have 30 RTGs, and we will double that to 57. We will also acquire Terminal Tractor vehicles, which operate within the terminal. We have 57 and will buy 46 more, reaching 103. All of this follows our ESG policy,” said the executive.

The new acquisitions are part of the company’s investment plan for the next three years. The lease extension, formalized last Tuesday (12/19), will be effective from January 22, 2027, to January 21, 2047. Additionally, the transfer of the administrative headquarters from the dock to an inland support area is planned, gaining 23,406 square meters of space, which will be densified as an exclusive truck access route. With this, BTP will expand its current area from 430,744 square meters to 454,150 square meters.

“We will increase our operational capacity by 40% in the next 72 months, employing R$1.9 billion as agreed with the Federal Government. We will buy equipment, automate gates, reinforce the floor, relocate the administrative building to increase the stacking area; we will make a series of necessary investments for our terminal,” said BTP CEO.

Arten also noted that investments in the terminal’s infrastructure directly contribute to the overall operational gain of the largest port in the Southern Hemisphere. “The company requested the early renewal of the contract because there is a significant lack of capacity at the Port of Santos. All our investment is made to, basically, meet this expectation of increased demand. When we increase the capacity of one of the terminals, it consequently increases the port’s overall capacity.”

The chart below compares exports and imports at the BTP Terminal, measured in TEUs, between Jan 2019 and Oct 2023. The data is from DataLiner.

BTP Terminal | Exports & Imports | Jan 2019 – Oct 2023 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Automation and Hiring

Regarding the use of an additional 23,400 square meters of area aimed at improving truck access to the terminal, Arten explained, “Today, we have the so-called pre-gate because our gate is not automated. When we automate it, the pre-gate area will no longer be necessary. So, we are taking the fence from where it is now and moving it forward to this area where the pre-gate is, which will improve the terminal layout, increase the flow, and undoubtedly, the terminal’s productivity.”

According to Joel Contente, Director of Corporate Affairs at BTP, the increased operational capacity of the terminal will generate 600 direct jobs. “We expect [to hire] roughly 500 equipment operators, in addition to people engaged in support logistics. We also estimate that approximately 2,500 jobs will be created during construction because the terminal will be undergoing repairs. It is labor-intensive, and a significant number of jobs will be created.”

Contente added that the first hires are expected to occur in the second half of 2024 when the company “starts receiving some equipment, entering strongly into the final planning of the executive project of the works so that they begin at the end of the year.”

Source: A Tribuna

Click here to read the original news report: https://www.atribuna.com.br/noticias/portomar/btp-quer-se-tornar-terminal-verde-no-porto-de-santos-ate-2030-com-investimento-bilionario

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