APM Terminals remains strongly focused on investments in Brazil and sees continuous growth opportunities in the country, confirms the company’s Global Head of Growth, on the occasion of his visit to the country. Martijn Van Dongen attended the celebratory ceremony in Suape (Pernambuco), where the company plans to convert part of a shipyard into a new container terminal.
In August, the court of Ipojuca confirmed APM Terminals, the port logistics arm of A.P. Moller – Maersk, as the official winner of the judicial auction for the acquisition of an Isolated Productive Unit (UPI-B Cais Sul) of Estaleiro Atlantico Sul (EAS), in the Port of Suape, Pernambuco. APM Terminals presented a winning bid on July 26 for the acquisition of the area in the context of its judicial recovery process, to develop and operate a container and general cargo terminal.
Infrastructure upgrades
In recent years, APM Terminals upgraded the equipment at its terminal in Pecem (Ceará) – a BRL 150 million investment brought three electric rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes for container operation in the yard and a Ship-to-Shore (STS) crane for ship operations. The equipment was commissioned in time for the 2022 harvest season, which plays a crucial role for local economy.
The terminal has seen a 10% volume growth and record moves in 2021, while also seeing a 6% growth in cabotage specifically. APM Terminals Pecem remains the main gateway for shipments of fruit out of Brazil and in 2021 it recorded a 20% volume growth compared to the year before in the export of fruits from the Brazilian Northeast region to the North American East Coast and Europe. For 2022, the numbers are expected to reach 470 thousand TEUs, which would signify further year-on-year growth.
In addition, to improve handling of refrigerated cargo, which is of great importance for the port, the number of reefer outlets has gradually increased from 1088 to 1388 during 2022, with new outlets installed at the Multi-Utility Terminal (TMUT) doubling the capacity of the area.
New tender for container terminal in Santos
The container terminal operator is also currently assessing the participation in the Saboo/STS10 tender, for the construction and operation of a 4th container terminal in Santos, which, together with the deepening of the access channel of Santos Port, could unlock significant value to exporters and importers through attraction of bigger vessels to East Coast of South America.
For more information:
Marko Mihajic
APM Terminals
Tel.: +48 695 999 687
external.communications@apmterminals.com