Not a lot of people know that one of the main export drives for Brazil is iron ore. Therefore, it would probably be an overstatement to say that two of the worlds’ largest mining companies are from Brazilian origin. Brazil is rich in iron ore which is mainly being exported through two main ports. The first of these is the large port of Tubarao, located across the bay from the city of Vitoria in the Espirito Santo state. It has two piers able to load three ships simultaneously at a transfer rate of 43,000 tonnes per hour. Part of the Vale Group’s logistics infrastructure, the Port of Tubarao handles the major percentage of total bulk iron ore shipments (100.4mt in 2010), through its Tubarao Terminal being fed from Vale iron mines in the southeast of the country. The second largest port is the port of Itaqui (including (Maranhao, Piaui, Bahia, Tocantins, Goias and Matto Grosso) in the State of Maranhao and is mostly concentrating on all other kinds of bulk cargoes including soybeans, sugar, iron ore, coke and other bulk commodities. But with the mining companies operating the ports the government is hastily trying to get a grip on the running of them. Back in September Brazil’s federal government announced that it is to increase its interest in the management and planning of 16 of its large ports to protect its investments. Currently, the government only provides the funds for these facilities but this is about to change. The Ports Secretariat (SEP) has set- aside a budget of USD1.92 billion for civil works and dredging in these ports. And although the private sector has shown interest in investing a total of USD16 billion in private ports, it is being put off by the amount of red tape involved. Also, the Ports Secretariat denies the privatisation of some Brazilian ports. In the meantime, Antaq, the National Ports Authority, has proposed what it considered to be the top 45 priority projects in need of private investment. First on the list is the construction of a new terminal at Manaus, where the situation is regarded as critical.
Iron ore
Earlier this year, LLX (part of the EBX Group) awarded a contract to the Spanish Taim Weser Group for the design, manufacture, supply and start up of the conveyor belt system and stockyard machinery for the new Porto Sudeste Port Terminal to be built in Itaguaí, some 80 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro. The new terminal known as the “Superporto Sudeste” will be for private and mixed-use and will serve primarily to export the iron ore mined by MMX, the mining company of the EBX group, in Minas Gerais, a state neighbouring Rio de Janeiro. Porto Sudeste will occupy an area of 52 hectares and will have a storage capacity of 2.5 million tonnes of minerals. At the outset, the terminal will be able to move 50 million tonnes of minerals a year, with the possibility of reaching 100 million tonnes in the future. The Porto Sudeste project has a budget of Euro 811 million and is scheduled to enter into operation in 2012. Taim Weser will be supplying all the equipment needed for transport operations, storage and the loading of iron ore at the port stockyard. The equipment consists of a complete conveyor belt system and four combined stacker/reclaimer machines to be installed in the two new iron ore storage yards. The transport system to be supplied comprised of a complete belt transport circuit for iron ore, from reception up to its loading into ships, including all the conveyors for the two storage stockyards. The total length of the belt circuit is approximately 13km. The conveyors have a capacity of 12,000t/h, a belt width of 1.6m and 1.8m and speeds of 4.5 and 4.8m/s. The four stacker-reclaimers will be responsible for the storage and stacking of iron ore into the stockyard. The machines have a stacking capacity of 10,000t/h and a reclaim capacity of 12,000t/h. Each machine is supplied with its own rail track. Some of the outstanding features of the machinery include the length of the boom, which is 60m long and the 12m span between rails.
Back in June, Brazilian mining conglomerate Vale SA announced it would invest USD2.9 billion to expand capacity of its Ponta da Madeira iron ore port terminal in northeast Brazil, allowing the port to also become a major agricultural exporting hub. Vale will install a fourth pier at Ponta da Madeira in Maranhao, carry out dredging work and improve railroad access to turn the port into Brazil’s largest in terms of handling capacity and volume in 2012. In addition to handling more iron ore, Ponta da Madeira will export soybeans and corn produced in northeast, north and centre west Brazil, using a new railroad route provided by the North-South Railroad, which is operated by Vale and interconnected with its Carajas Railroad. Rail access to the port, near the city of Sao Luis, will be enhanced by Vale laying a second track on a 115km stretch of the Carajas Railroad, which brings ore from its Carajas mines. The expanded Ponta da Madeira port will be an alternative to three major grain and cargo ports in south and southeast Brazil: Rio Grande in Rio Grande do Sul state, Paranagua in Parana state and Santos in Sao Paulo state, according to Vale. The fourth pier being built at Ponta da Madeira will be able to receive and load two ships simultaneously, of between 150,000 and 400,000 tonnes capacity. The port is already one of the world’s largest, and the only one that can fully load the 346,000 tonnes bulk carrier Berge Stahl and the 400,000 tonnes Vale Brasil, the world’s largest ore carrier.
Salt
Brazilian engineering firm Constremac plans to complete construction on an USD 139 million project to expand the Areia Branca salt terminal in Rio Grande do Norte state during the fourth quarter of this year. According to company VP Fernando Graziano, the terminal is located at sea, around 14 nautical miles offshore, in rough waters. Work entails expanding the artificial island by 7,500sqm to reach 22,500sqm and lengthening the barge pier and deck to 294m from 200m. The project is being funded by the Ports Secretariat (SEP) and Rio Grande do Norte state port authority Codern through the country’s growth acceleration plan, PAC. The Areia Branca terminal has capacity to store 100,000 tonnes of salt handling most of the mineral produced in Rio Grande do Norte state, which is responsible for 95% of Brazil’s salt production. In 2010, the facility handled 1.6Mt of salt.
Cement
Construction work is well underway on the new Port of Acu, a huge project being hailed as a concept that will change the future of port operations in Brazil. This USD1.6 billion project at Sao Joao da Barra in south-east Brazil, approximately 175 miles from Rio de Janeiro, has been under construction since October 2007 and will be operational in 2012. The port is the brainchild of entrepreneur Eike Batista, the Brazilian billionaire. His company LLX Logistica has provided the basic detailing, engineering and management of the project. Tecton Engineering submitted the design while Logos Engineering was responsible for monitoring construction and quality control. Eventually the port will include an industrial complex incorporating a steel plant, two cement plants, a power plant, an oil refinery and at least four mills for iron ore pelletising and is estimated to create 50,000 jobs. The most important part in the port’s development programme at this point was completed last March. This is the access jetty to the berthing piers, a huge structure of concrete and steel nearly three kilometers long and 26.6 meters wide, linking the coast to 10 berths for mooring vessels and complete with offshore loading and unloading facilities. A joint venture comprising two Rio de Janeiro-based contractors, ARG and Civil Port, was awarded the access jetty contract. ARG is the main contractor with an 80% share while Civil Port has expertise in port development projects.