Former Aracruz machinist plans BRL 2.7bln port terminal in Brazil’s Espirito Santo

Under the leadership of Etore Selvatici Cavallieri, who started as a machinist at Aracruz Florestal in Espírito Santo, the Imetame Group, based in Aracruz, plans to commission the first phase of an ambitious project by the end of next year: a multi-purpose port terminal. The investor believes this will be a benchmark for Espírito Santo and open up new shipping alternatives on the Brazilian coast, where the Port of Santos currently dominates.

The Imetame project, currently under construction, foresees a terminal capable of handling containers, general cargo, solid bulk goods, and liquids such as fuels and crude oil within a few years. The total investment is currently estimated at R$2.7 billion, with funds coming from equity, financing from development banks, and the entry of strategic partners. Located in the Sudene (Superintendence of Development of the Northeast) area, the project benefits from tax incentives.

In 1980, after leaving the forestry company, which was an arm of the pulp manufacturer Aracruz – later acquired by the Votorantim group and since 2018 incorporated by Suzano – Cavallieri built a conglomerate that currently has an annual revenue of R$2 billion. “At the time, he identified a business opportunity in the excess machining and welding services, which were outsourced, and on August 17, 1980, in a small 50 m² shed, Imetame Metalmecânica was born, the first company in the group,” according to the company. The entrepreneur owns 96% of the group. Minority partner Gilson Pereira, who joined in 1990, holds the remaining 4%.

The multi-terminal is located in Aracruz, 85 km north of the capital Vitória, with connections to a network of federal and state highways and a railway, the Vitória a Minas, operated by Vale. According to the company, the state government has already launched tenders for infrastructure improvements to access the new terminal, as well as Portocel, operated by the pulp and paper company Suzano and the Jurong Shipyard.

The project is designed to handle 1.6 million TEUs per annum, starting with 300,000 TEUs. Pereira, who is the group’s executive director and CEO of Imetame Porto Logística, said that negotiations are underway for a partner in the container terminal. The preference is for a shipping line or a logistics operator. According to the executive, the terminal’s partner, which will be under the umbrella of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), should be defined by the end of the year. Other investors may participate in the grain and bulk terminals.

Pereira states that the port terminal has a privileged location on the Atlantic coast, in northern Espírito Santo, ideal for shipping routes between Brazil and China. “Compared to the Port of Santos, the terminal is 200 nautical miles closer to China. It has the potential to become a hub for container ships,” he says. The target mapped for capturing containerized cargo is Minas Gerais and part of northern Rio de Janeiro State.

Imetame Logística plans to start operating the port in the second half of 2025, with general cargo – steel products, granite blocks, and others. Container operations are scheduled for the first half of 2026. Two berths for mooring vessels are planned for these two phases. The third phase, for bulk solids and liquids, involving fuels and crude oil transshipment, will include the installation of its own berth.

The executive highlighted that the terminal will be able to receive large ships that have difficulty loading to full capacity at Brazilian ports, even in Santos. The draft of the project will be 16 meters, he informed, with excavation of up to 17 meters in the maritime area, reaching up to 23 meters. Earthmoving works are already 52% complete. “The biggest challenge is to build the breakwater, dredging, and the construction of the quay,” he says.

The idea for the terminal arose in 2009, with an industrial vocation and a particular dedication to the operations of the parent company, a company with activities in metalworking – manufacturing, assembly, and maintenance of industrial plants. Over the years, it gained a new profile, resulting from the modification of the Port Law in 2013, which created the figure of the TUP (private use terminal) and the transformation, in 2014/2015, into a multi-purpose port.

The executive informs that the company obtained the installation license in April 2021, when the investment amount was lower than the current one, which underwent adjustments after the pandemic. According to the company, the terminal will be one of the three ports in the country with bunkering operations to supply ships and foresees, in the future, having facilities for loading ships powered by electricity.

The executive’s assessment is that there will be room for the new port terminal, even if there are new projects and expansions of the current ones at the Port of Santos. The current situation of bottlenecks and the increase in future demand for containers indicate, according to sector entities such as Centronave and Cecafé, the search for new alternatives for shipping cargo in the country.

Being located in the Sudene area, Imetame also set up the first private Export Processing Zone in the country, the ZPE Aracruz, based on a new law from the end of last year. Located 11 km from the terminal, it is in the licensing phase. “Companies that set up in the ZPE focused on exports will benefit from Sudene tax incentives and a reduction in state taxes, up to 75% on income tax, and will be able to use the terminal to export their products,” says Pereira.

The Imetame Group, founded by Cavallieri 44 years ago, generated revenue of R$1.9 billion last year. It started with metalworking, assembling industrial plants for various sectors. Then came energy businesses (four thermal power plants in Camaçari and oil and gas prospecting in nine fields in Bahia and Espírito Santo), mining and processing of ornamental rocks for export and structural stones for use in heavy construction (three companies), and dredging company. The group has around 5,000 employees.

Source: O Estado de S. Paulo

Original reporting: https://www.estadao.com.br/economia/negocios/novo-porto-aracruz-espirito-santo/

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