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.

Memories of the flooding of the Itajai-Acu River in November 2008, which caused severe damage to the Port of Itajai, washing away two berths and temporarily halting port operations was a cold reminder that you can control almost everything except the weather.  The deaths of over 100 people were caused by the natural disaster and the Brazilian Government declared the area in a State of Emergency. Once Brazil’s second-largest container port, after the Port of Santos, with throughputs of approximately 682,000 TEU and 694,000 TEU respectively in 2007 and 2008, Itajai’s container throughput fell to fourth place among Brazilian ports in 2009, with combined volume of 593,000 TEU due to the flood damage.  But almost two years later, the port of Itajai handed over the reconstructed Berth 2 to the Itajai Port Authority in September 2010. A total of USD176 million in federal government emergency funds were allocated to the reconstruction of berths 1 and 02 and also to dredging works to restore the original depth after the floods. APM Terminals Itajai S/A, which owns and operates a terminal concession in the port, took over the 273m Berth 2 from the Port Authority and continued to finish the reconstruction with the installation of crane rails and electric power infrastructure for quayside ship-to-shore cranes. The terminal has an annual capacity of the 750,000 TEU and both berth no 1 and 2 provide a combined berth length of 558m. But one year on since the opening of Berth no 2, terminal operators in the Itajai Port Complex were hit once again by flood waters from the Itajai-Acu River – fortunately the water did not rise as high as previously experienced but it was enough to halt terminal operations in the port. One APM Terminal berth, two public berths, three Portonave’s and all other berths of smaller private terminals saw operations come to a full stop. Work is now underway to assess the depths of the access channel and turning circle, as there is concern that the level of siltation built up by the strong currents might affect the depth in the port. On an emergency visit to the Port of Itajaí, Special Secretariat of Ports Minister Leonidas Cristino assessed the damage caused by the Itajaí-Açú River. “We will do whatever is needed to get the Port of Itajaí and the entire Itajaí Port Complex back to operations with the very same depth conditions prior to the flooding,” said Cristino. The Minister will secure federal funds to guarantee the dredging of the access channels and turning circle. He also assured that even before the depth measurement studies (bathymetry survey) takes place, a special group of SEP technicians will be assigned to speed up the proceedings. “Itajaí Port Complex is extremely important within the context of Brazilian ports and all operations shall be resumed very shortly,” he said. With respect to the slight damages caused to APM Terminal’s berth 1, the Minister stated that repairs should be on the operator’s expenses considering its condition as a lessee of the damaged berth in question. “We are absolutely sure that APM Terminals will start the necessary repair works on the damaged berth as it is of its interest and will resume operations as soon as possible,” he added. The city Mayor Jandir Bellini, who accompanied the Minister during his entire visit, remarked on SEP’s great concern about the situation and its exceptional willingness to help and find a prompt solution to the problem.  Bathymetry procedures should start as soon as the river current slows down (at one point it reached 10 knots). The speed of the river currents was caused by an incredibly large volume of rainfall which inevitably saw the dams located upriver overflow. Large volumes of water from the dams had to be promptly released into the river resulting in a huge increase in the speed of the flow of water and resulting in damaging some parts of APM’s berth structure. APM Terminals has not yet officially announced the severity of the damage suffered by Berth 1 since it first needs to carry out a technical assessment which will be overseen by a group of specialised engineers.

For the first nine months of this year APM Terminals (including the public port) handled a total of 342.595 TEU (up 28% compared to the same period in 2010), while Portonave handled 395.431 TEU (down 5% compared to 2010) and other terminals handled a total of 889 TEU giving a total of 738.915 TEU for the whole complex (average overall increase of 7% over 2010).

Dredging depths

There might be one positive element to the story, namely that flooding of the Itajai Port Complex may have been prevented by the dredging works that started back earlier in the year. “The deepening of the channel and all other dredging works, performed by Jan De Nul, prevented huge volumes of water from overflowing and flooding up many large areas of the city and region in comparison to what happened in the great flooding that ravaged the whole state back in 2008, not to mention that this time the rainfall was way much more intense than the one recorded in that year,” said Bellini. Back in March, Minister of Ports, Leonidas Cristino, in the presence of the State Governor and City of Itajai Mayor, awarded a USD32 million contract in a signing ceremony to Belgium-based dredging contractor Jan De Nul. The capital dredging contract included the deepening of both the turning circle and approach channels (from -11m to -14m). The funds for the contract came from the National Dredging Program (PNG). Since the signing, Jan De Nul operated their 223m-long Charles Darwin hopper dredger of 30.500m3 carrying capacity. The dredger is the largest and most powerful ever to operate in Brazilian waters. The equipment is brand new and came directly from the shipyard to Itajaí Port Complex to carry out the contracted dredging operations. A smaller dredger has also been deployed to carry out works alongside the river banks and in some other smaller and shallow areas where the hopper dredger is unable to access. In addition to the contracted work, Jan De Nul will now start work on re-dredging previous work to achieve pre-flooding depths in the port.

Last year we reported on the situation in Venezuela (see ‘Strong message to Venezuelan Ports’) in our Latin America Ports Supplement with news that Government-controlled Bolipuertos took control of the country’s private terminals, including those at Puerto Cabello, in July 2009 under a presidential decree issued by president Hugo Chavez. DP World, which operated a container terminal at Puerto Cabello, was one of the operators which saw its assets nationalised by the decree. Since our 2010 report news coming from Venezuela seems to be few and far between. Hugo Chavez, a former army paratrooper who first came to prominence as a leader of a failed coup in 1992, caused a shift in Venezuelan politics six years later, after popular outrage at the traditional political elite, to win the presidency. Since then, Chavez has won a series of elections and referendums, including one on changing the constitution to allow unlimited presidential terms. In January 2011, Chavez announced that he would stand in the October 2012 presidential elections – something that he would win once again he assured his country. If this would be the case Chavez would hold office until 2019. But in June 2011 there were questions about his health as Chavez was treated for cancer. He flew to Cuba to have a cancerous tumour removed, after initial reports that alleged he only needed treatment for a pelvic abscess.  After nearly a month’s absence he arrived back in Venezuela – just a day before celebrations to mark the country’s 200th anniversary of independence from Spain. Looking thinner after the surgery, Chavez said he was on the road to full recovery. He subsequently underwent several rounds of chemotherapy – both in Cuba and at home. It was not disclosed what type of cancer he has had nor was easy to ascertain his current state of health.

While Chavez is battling his health, Venezuela is battling its international reputation as the country is heavily depending on its vast oil reserves – the largest in the Americas – and has given it a strategic importance. And although Chavez’s government has implemented a number of social programmes, including education and health services for all, chronic poverty and unemployment are still widespread, despite the country’s oil wealth. Therefore the country needs a new direction to do business with the rest of the world. In November 2008, Chavez congratulated US President Barack Obama on his election victory, indicating that he was ready to “start a process of rapprochement” with the US. Three years later and the relationship with the US has not improved and this will be a long road for Venezuela if it wants to re-instate relations. The current government is fully aware of the situation and needs to act quickly and perhaps in hind-sight taking control of the country’s private terminals was not the right move. It therefore embarked on the next stage with the signing for a new container terminal in the port of Cabello. China Harbour Engineering was awarded a USD500 million contract by the state-owned Bolivarian Ports to build the new container terminal in the country’s main port of Puerto Cabello. The new Cabello project is based on a memorandum of understanding signed between the Caracas and Beijing Governments in September 2010.

The contract was signed by Venezuela’s transportation and communications minister Francisco Garces and China Harbour’s vice-chairman Chen Zhong. “This terminal will double the capacity we have and will be connected with the railway network we are developing,” said Garces. The new terminal will extend the cargo loading and storage area by 38ha, and add a space for the docking of two more container vessels with “a capacity of 70,000 tonnes and six mechanical arms for loading and unloading goods.” The construction of the terminal in Carabobo, located about 200km northwest of Caracas, is scheduled to begin in 2012 and should be fully operational in 2014. In 2009, the Carabobo northern state port handled a total of 790,000 TEU.

escribed as average with the port sector proving to be a difficult sell for most. Instead, some manufacturers of the so-called temporary quick storage units are looking to new opportunities in emerging markets around the world. “We have had some nice projects develop in less traditional international markets where our industry is in its relative infancy,” says Tracy MacLachlan, Senior Marketing Manager for the Saskatoon based Norseman Structures Inc. in Canada. Financial uncertainties seem to ripple through every market and MacLachlan sees a growing global trend towards emerging markets where Norseman is proving “strong” while the domestic market is expected to stabilise. “Introducing the benefits of quick storage to the emerging markets should be easier than when we introduced our product in our traditional marketplaces,” she adds. Wherever the quick storage professionals look in these days of lingering global economic woes, winning sales is still proving tough sledding. “It’s much more competitive out there on these jobs,” says Tom Nesfeder, Business Director, Industrial Sales & Rentals, for Universal Fabric Structures in Quakertown, Philadelphia. “Normally, you’d be up against two or three competitors, but now it’s not uncommon to see about 15 bidding for a job.” You’ll find quick storage structures at many world ports from a variety of suppliers. The fabric covered steel or aluminum framed structures are quick to erect and can be taken down just as quickly depending on need. And they are not the garden shed variety when it comes to size, as some temporary structures look like aircraft hangars – Universal has one building in service for the US Government that is 230 feet wide and 260 feet long and others at 150 feet wide and 405 feet long. Sizes of 60,000 to 70,000 square feet are average and uses range from bulk storage to warehousing, from storing historical artifacts (Rubb Buildings Ltd. in the Canary Islands) to sports arenas. For those established companies at the top end of the industry such as Universal Fabric Structures – owned by the Veldeman Group of Belgium – there’s a continual need to educate buyers of quick storage structures that you pay for what you get.  Nesfeder says Universal’s high quality fabric structures have always met all building codes for engineering, snow load, insulation, safety, manufacture and other factors. “But, we are not the cheapest guy on the block  . . . you get what you pay for.” For Universal, 2010 was a “very good year” thanks to remediation projects from the US Federal Government as part of the continuing stimulus programme. So far, 2011 has not been as good for the company as 2010, but Nesfeder believes the third and fourth quarters “are shaping a little better.” Whatever the North American performance by Universal, it has been good enough to help parent company, the Veldeman Group, stay in the black in Europe where sales are difficult and sluggish, according to Rolf Van Moer, Manager Business Unit Projects for Veldeman Structure Solutions in Bree, Belgium. “As for many companies worldwide, 2010 was a difficult year, but because of very good results for Universal in the United States and Canada, it was still a profitable year for the Veldeman Group.”

Economic uncertainty still a factor

Another of the world leaders, Rubb Buildings, which has plants or offices in the US, England, Poland, Sweden, Norway, and Singapore had a better year than expected in sales and profit in 2010, but 2011 was off to a slow start until mid year when it began to come to life and get the company back on budget. Rubb has traditionally done well in times of slow economic growth, but North American Rubb President, David Nickerson, says there are “a lot of customers who are holding back and waiting for the economic uncertainty to abate.” And he points a finger at the US capitol and laments: “From my perspective, the lack of any clear direction out of Washington continues to have a very negative effect. This is costing jobs and stifling investment.” However, Nickerson remains optimistic about the way ahead for the quick storage industry, but confirms that the market has been “very price competitive of late.” Some suppliers focus on meeting given price points, but the higher end manufacturers caution there should be more to the equation including, quality, meeting all building codes, experience, and safety considerations. “I think most customers are smart enough to know that you don’t get something for nothing and that there is a definite truth to the maxim that one gets what one pays for,” he says. “Those customers who choose to go with lower-priced, lower quality product often discover that a short-term decision based on initial cost is not necessarily the right long-term decision.” For this reason, Nickerson says Rubb always encourages customers to be their own best advocates and seek independent engineering advice about the relative strength and quality of what they are about to buy. Some in the industry are still smarting over the failure of three Cover-All Building Systems Inc. structures in North America culminating in a May 2009 collapse of the Dallas Cowboys National Football League team training facility in Irving, Texas, which brought injuries and lawsuits. That crisis proved to be the last straw and forced Cover-All and its Pennsylvania-based sales arm, Summit Systems, into bankruptcy and eventually out of the business. Norseman picked up some of the pieces of the Cover-All business assets and put them through an extensive re-engineering and re-design process before adding them into its portfolio. But, far from a lingering black eye, Norseman’s MacLachlan says the collapses actually had a good impact on the industry. “The reality is many buildings were and are still currently under-designed and the appropriate due diligence of permitting officials and engineers was lacking.” She believes the most significant impact of the industry black eye is that “new and fresh eyes are now looking over designs and specifications, which in turn will rightfully weed out sub-standard buildings and practices and ultimately make the industry much stronger.”

In a sense, adds MacLachlan, the industry “needed to be reined in a bit, and designers and permit officials needed to take a sober second thought about our structures, their uses and even their abuses.” And she echoes the thoughts of many in the quick storage industry when she says: “We need to refocus on selling our products for reasons other than price, which I believe was the biggest driver in causing the difficulties that resulted (in the collapses).” Norseman is now confidently producing and selling its expanded range of quick structures that are designed to meet or exceed building codes and she has noted a new diligence in review and analysis on building designs and applications throughout the industry and among its buyers. Rubb’s Nickerson fears that some of the low price newer companies in the market might not have yet learned the necessary lessons from the building failures as many customers “continue to validate poor engineering and fabrication practices as well as use of substandard materials by buying structures that clearly do not comply with the building code.” At Universal Fabric Structures, Nesfeder warns that while the industry is slowly recovering from the Cover-All collapses, it is not going to be a quick process if it continues to be hard to convince would-be buyers that fabric structures are safe when some would rather opt for cheap price over paying for a proper engineering package.

Innovation moving industry forward

Meanwhile, innovation is also coming to the fore and helping move the industry forward. Rubb is bringing its Thermohall™ line of insulated buildings to the North American market in 2011/2012. The buildings feature insulation that is integral with the outer cladding and “very quickly installed and 100% relocatable,” says Nickerson. “Due to its high density and to its construction, this insulation system virtually eliminates cold bridging making the structure
s highly energy efficient and minimizes opportunities for condensation.” A Korean electronics giant had Rubb provide three Thermohall™ buildings as part of its latest European expansion into Poland. In Norway the insulation capability of the Thermohall™ line is shown with a structure being used to cover a public swimming pool in Kristiansand. And Rubb is also introducing its FXI range of buildings it calls “world building” because six initial standard designs can be produced to a high standard of quality at any Rubb production facility around the world. Rubb buildings are environmentally friendly in that they are nearly 100% recyclable and have energy translucent roofs that provide substantial natural day lighting. Universal Fabric Structures has introduced a new structure line it calls Phoenix, which is geared to lower pricing but with the same high quality. Phoenix features increased inside eaves height and a variety of outside fabric options including PVC coated fabric and polyethylene, with building widths from 60 to 160 feet. For Norseman, McLachlan says some unique situations have been solved with innovative solutions. “They may not be far outside of our normal parameters, but they are certainly showing us ways to develop and move our industry forward.” Veldeman’s Van Moer says there has been an increasing demand for custom solutions in Europe and a constant need for more cost effective solutions by doing product improvements such as using laser cutting of parts instead of traditional cutting and sawing in production. Innovations have also helped meet the more severe structural stability and insulation regulations.