APM Terminals Takes Over Brazilian Berth

APM Terminals, which owns and operates a terminal concession in the Brazilian Port of Itajai, will take over from the Itajai Port Authority the 895-foot Berth 2, which the Brazilian government reconstructed following massive floods in 2008 and handed back to the port authority on Sept. 13.

APM Terminals Itajai said it will continue and finish the reconstruction with the installation of crane rails and electric power infrastructure for quayside ship-to-shore cranes.

By The Numbers: U.S. Container Trade With Brazil.

The flooding of the Itajai-Acu River in November 2008 caused severe damage to the port, washing away two berths and temporarily halting port operations.

APMTI said it expects to finalize the berth and yard construction of Berth 2 during the coming months. Once completed, Berths No. 1 and 2 will provide a combined berth length of 1,830 feet.

APMTI also has priority berthing at Berth 3 until 2012. Dredging of the river to a channel depth of 46 feet is expected to begin later this year. The current depth is 34 feet, which limits calls by larger vessels. The shipping community is pushing the authorities to include the construction of a new 1,476-foot turning basin, to allow the port to accommodate the future generation of vessels.

The port complex of Itajai, which includes terminals operated on the opposite side of the river, was Brazil’s second-largest container port, after the Port of Santos, with throughputs of approximately 682,000 and 694,000 20-foot equivalent container units respectively in 2007 and 2008. But because of the flood damage Itajai’s container volume fell to fourth place among Brazilian ports in 2009, with combined volume of 593,000 TEUs.

Container throughput at Itajai’s terminals soared nearly 78 percent during the first six months of 2010, with total volume for the year projected to exceed 1 million TEUs. Demands on Brazil’s port infrastructure have increased as the Brazilian economy, the largest in South America, surged 8.8 percent during the first half of 2010 compared with the first six months of 2009.

APM Terminals became in 2007 the sole shareholder in Terminal de Containers do Vale do Itajai, better known as "Teconvi", which was recently renamed APM Terminals Itajai. The Port of Itajai is located in southern Brazil in the State of Santa Catarina and is a major export gateway for frozen poultry.

APM Terminals also operates Brazil’s Ceara Terminal Operator, at the Port of Pecem, and holds a 50 percent share in Brasil Terminal Portuario, which is constructing a new container terminal at the Port of Santos.

-- Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com.