Port of Açu grows with an interest in agribusiness

Porto do Açu, located in the municipality of São João da Barra (RJ), inaugurated this Wednesday the 8th, the expansion of a terminal seeking to expand operations in agribusiness and to become an even more relevant logistics center for the energy sector. The need to increase the terminal’s capacity arose after the port began to import fertilizers in 2020.

The expectation now is to continue with the implementation of a fertilizer mixing unit to serve customers, mainly in the State of Minas Gerais. The project also provides for the future possibility of building a nitrogenous fertilizer factory, an investment that depends on a gas pipeline, as gas is the main input for these products.

The expansion of the terminal also brings Açu even closer to the energy transition, as the area will export products related to these businesses, such as lithium, used in batteries, and copper concentrate, used in the manufacture of electric cars.

As for the gas pipeline that could enable the construction of the fertilizer factory, the expectation is to make a decision on the carrier that will be a partner in the project by the end of 2023, according to the CEO of Porto do Açu, José Firmo. At the end of last year, Gás Natural Açu (GNA), responsible for operating the thermoelectric complex located in the port, signed agreements with Nova Transportadora Sudeste (NTS) and Transportadora Associada de Gás (TAG) for feasibility studies on the construction of the gas pipeline that will connect the port to the national network.

With two terminals, the Port of Açu is now the second largest in the country in terms of volume of cargo handled, behind the Port of Santos (SP). Cargo passing through the port in the north of Rio de Janeiro includes iron ore and oil exports. In addition, Açu has an industrial complex where companies that provide services to the oil and gas sector are installed, given the proximity to the Campos and Santos basins, the two largest producing regions in the country.

Porto do Açu, responsible for operating the port’s terminals, is a company operated by Prumo Logística, in partnership with the Port of Antwerp, which has a 1% stake. In all, the company has invested BRL 600 million so far in the multicargo terminal. According to Firmo, there is space for over R$ 200 million in investments in the area in five years.

In operation since 2016, the multi-cargo terminal is next to the oil terminal and was born with a focus on solid bulk operations, especially coke, coal and bauxite. In the last three years, however, import and export demands for agribusiness have emerged. As the connection to the port is via highways, the combination of cargo arriving and leaving the country was one of the measures taken by customers to reduce the cost of freight, which helped to maintain the high occupancy of the terminal in 2021 and 2022.

Açu began to carry out the first imports of fertilizers in 2020, through a warehouse with 25 thousand tons of static capacity. Now, the expansion includes two new covered warehouses that will quadruple the terminal’s capacity to store up to 110 thousand tons, in addition to doubling the bonded area to 360 thousand square meters.

This Wednesday, the Port of Açu inaugurated one of these new warehouses, with a static capacity of 45 thousand tons. This terminal, which will export copper from Goiás, was implemented in partnership with Lundin Mining Brasil. Also in the first half of 2023, the third warehouse will be inaugurated, which will have a static capacity of around 40 thousand tons. The warehouses are next to the wharf, which speeds up loading and unloading.

The port has become a logistics solution mainly for agribusiness companies located in the states of Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais and Goiás, a region that accounts for almost half of the national demand for fertilizers.

The opportunity for the Port of Açu to operate in the future in the production of fertilizers is related to the availability of gas. The thermoelectric power generation complex located in Açu is supplied by gas from a regasifier vessel with a capacity of 28 million cubic meters per day (m3 /day). The complex’s two thermoelectric plants will consume 11 million m3/day, so part of the gas can be directed to other projects, such as the fertilizer factory.

Today, Brazil imports more than 90% of the fertilizers it consumes, mainly because of the historically high cost of natural gas for national production. As a result, the production of fertilizers at the port will depend, above all, on the price of gas. “In recent years, the market has evolved a lot and gas is now much more competitive in Brazil,” says Firmo.

According to the director of terminals and logistics at Porto do Açu, João Braz, the company has partnerships with technology suppliers for a nitrogenous plant and the studies are concluded. Before proceeding with this project, however, Porto do Açu is analyzing the implementation of a mixing plant for imported fertilizers. According to Braz, the feasibility study has already been done and the expectation is to close the contract for construction in 2023.

Today, mixing units are installed close to customers. The possibility of having larger plants, to serve more consumers, can be made possible by an agreement that will come into force in 2025 and which provides for ICMS tax equality for fertilizer imported and produced in Brazil. “With tax equality, depending on the location, it makes sense to have this on a larger scale, within the ports”, says Braz.

The director recalls that, even if there is an increase in the national production of fertilizers, purchases from abroad will still be important to supply the Brazilian agribusiness. “There are some products that have characteristics that are not produced in Brazil, such as phosphate rock and potassium”, he says.

According to Braz, in the current decade there is room for Açu to meet half of the estimated urea demand for the region of influence of the port, projected at 1.6 million tons. Porto Fluminense’s activities in importing fertilizers complement grain export activities. According to the director, a study by the Dom Cabral foundation showed that Açu could move up to 20 million tons of grain in 2035, if the connection of the port to the railway network is completed.

In January last year, the Ministry of Infrastructure signed an agreement with Açu for the construction of a railroad, which will connect the port to Anchieta (ES). “The potential is gigantic, both in the export of grains, mainly from the Northwest of Minas Gerais, as well as in the import of fertilizers. We started with the highway and, in the future, with the arrival of the railroad, this is enhanced”, says Braz.

The railroad project is included in the investment partnership program (PPI). According to the CEO of Porto do Açu, there have been no new signs about the project since the Lula government took office last month. “The project continues, it is in the federal government’s plans, but there is still no definitive announcement of the start of construction. We have two extremely interested states, Rio and Minas Gerais. To transport agricultural production over the next decade, Minas depends on this railroad connected to Açu”, says Firmo.

Source: Valor Econômico

To read the original report, visit: https://valor.globo.com/empresas/noticia/2023/02/08/porto-do-acu-cresce-de-olho-em-energia-e-agronegocio.ghtml

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