As shareholders in the Port of Rotterdam Authority, the Municipality of Rotterdam and the Ministry of Finance have approved the participation in the Port of Pecém, a rapidly growing port in Northeast Brazil. The participation involves an investment of some EUR 75 million and, in addition to holding 30 per cent of the shares, the Port of Rotterdam Authority will have joint control of strategic decisions and positions at Executive Board, Supervisory Board and management level.
The Port of Rotterdam Authority and Ceará State are expected to sign the decision next month, and the following months will be used to further finalise the participation. Allard Castelein, CEO Port of Rotterdam Authority is delighted with the decision in principle: ‘Our participation in the Brazilian Port of Pecém is promising for all parties. We have been working as adviser with Pecém for several years. This investment will further intensify the partnership. We will be working with Ceará State to ensure that Pecém expands to become the future logistics and commercial hub of Northeast Brazil.’
Brazil offers a lot of potential, partly because of its abundance of raw materials and partly as Brazil is expected to become a growth market in the coming decades. As well as the participation in Pecém, the Port of Rotterdam Authority is also involved in Porto Central, a greenfield port still under development in Espírito Santo State.
In 2017 Pecém had a total throughput of 16 million tonnes, and the port has undergone an average annual growth of 22 per cent over the past 10 years. The economic growth (national and international) and the related market demand are expected to enable Pecém to develop towards a throughput of 45 million tonnes by 2030. In addition to this, Pecém is an attractive proposition because most of the required infrastructure (breakwaters, berths, land, etc) is already available.
