1973 - 1975
The State Government of Pernambuco developed the directive plan for the implantation of the Suape Port and Industrial Complex. It integrated an extensive area for industries and ocean port services with excellent natural characteristics and was based on the modern concept of port-industry integration, examples of which include Marseille-Fos in France and Kashima in Japan.

The Suape Port and Industrial Complex was conceived as a regional development project in an effort to attract 1 st and 2 nd generation industries without discarding the possibility of implanting 3 rd generation industries. The project relied on three elements that favored the expressive freight-scale economy with the utilization of large ships. These are:

• deep waters along the coastline with a depth of 17 meters and about 1.2 km from the reefs;
• natural sea breakers formed by a string of reefs;
• extensive areas reserved for the implantation of an industrial park.

1977
After the necessary dispossession of about 13,500 hectares of land, work effectively began along the lines of the concept established in the directive plan for the complex. By 1991, public investments to the order of R$144 million were applied in the following areas: port infrastructure, internal transport system (roads and railways), water supply system, electricity, telecommunications, administrative center and complementary construction.

1978
State Law Nº 7.763/78 created the Suape Port and Industrial Complex Company to carry out activities related to the implantation of the port-industrial complex in the areas described by decrees of public use and necessity issued by the federal, state and municipal governments.

1983
State Decree Nº 8.447/83 approved the Norms of Land Use, Service Use and Ecological Preservation of the Port Industrial Complex so as to guaranty the occupation and rational use of the land with the least harm done to the local biodiversity, as established in the directive plan. In accordance with this decree and federal legislation regarding the creation of the Exportation Processing Zone/Suape, the 13,500-hectare area of the complex was subdivided into zones, as follows:

• Port Industrial Zone (PIZ) • Exportation Processing Zone (EPZ) • Industrial Zone 3 (IZ-3) • Industrial Zone 3A (IZ-3A) • Industrial Zone 3B (IZ-3B) • Central Administrative Zone (ZCA) • Ecological Preservation Zone (ECPZ) • Agricultural and Forrest Zone (AFZ) • Cultural Preservation Zone (CPZ) • Residential Zone 3D (RZ-3D)

1984
A stone sea wall was built to protect the entrance to the internal port opened in the reefs. Utilizing the basin formed by the construction of the sea wall, the first port facilities were established for docking ships: the Liquid Granary Pier (LGP) and the Multiple Use Wharf (MUW). Operations at the Suape Port began in April 1984, when the first shipment of alcohol was embarked at the Liquid Granary Pier (LGP), leased to Petrobras.

1987
Operations at the Liquid Granary Pier intensified with the transference of the Petroleum By-Products Tankage Park that, until then, had been located at the Port of Recife.

1991
Operations began at the Multi Use Wharf (MUW), moving general containerized cargo. In February 1991, the National Transportation Secretary of the then Ministry of Infrastructure established the "Directives of the National Transportation Policy", in which Suape was included among 11 priority ports of Brazil to which federal public investment resources were destined for port infrastructure.

Suape went from being a mere industrial port to being a public-use hub port as a result of the deep coastal waters (17 meters in depth and 1.2 km from the string of reefs).

1996 In August 1996, Suape Port was included among the 42 enterprises of the "Brazil in Action" program of the federal government, receiving resources for improving infrastructure so as to attract private investments and thus enhance the socio-economic development of the state of Pernambuco.

1999
The first phase of construction on the internal port was concluded. There were 935m of docks with depths of down to 15.5 meters where industries and port service enterprises could invest in their own installations along the margins of the internal canal.

2001
The second phase of construction of the internal port began with the dragging of over 1 million 300 thousand m³, extending the navigation canal by more than 450m, where Dock 4 (330m) would be constructed.

2002
In order to extend the port zone and significantly increase cargo movement, the execution of the duplication of the port avenue at a length of 4.4km was begun. For further expansion of the port zone, construction began on the 1 st Central Port Operations building, which would house the port authorities operating at Suape.


2003
Suape Port received an international certificate from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), linked to the US government, attesting to the fulfillment of measures proscribed by law in the combat of bioterrorism.

2004
The Training Center of the Suape Port and Industrial Complex is inaugurated. The undertaking is directed toward the employees of the companies installed at the port and residents from neighboring communities. In this same year, intention protocols are drawn up with the Camargo Corrêa Construction Company for the installation of a shipyard at the port, and with the Argentine group Arcor, a world leader in candy manufacturing, for the installation of an industrial park with four factories and a distribution center.

In 2004, Emplal, one of the three largest manufacturers of thermoforming plastic packaging in Brazil, inaugurated its facilities at the Port and Industrial Complex. Suape also attracted three industrial investments signing partnership agreements with PepsiCo, Refresco Guararapes and Condor. Another contract was signed with the Italian group M&G for the installation of an industrial park with four plants.

2005
The Government of Pernambuco, Federal Government and Government of Venezuela lay the foundation stone of the General José Ignácio Abreu e Lima Refinery. The undertaking is a partnership between Petrobras and Petróleos da Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), and will have a capacity to process 200 thousand barrels of oil per day. The refinery will require an investment of US$ 2.5 billion and will generate about 10 thousand jobs during its construction. The unit will be the only plant in Brazil designed to process crude oil.

As part the festivities commemorating the 27 years of Suape, the Port Operations Center (POC), which received R$ 1.4 million, is inaugurated, along with the duplication and renovation of the Port Avenue, into which R$20 million were invested. The POC was created to centralize all port operations, thereby facilitating services and reducing the mooring time of ships.

2007
The Suape Port and Industrial Complex enters a new development phase. In January, President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva signed the contract between Transpetro, subsidiary company of Petrobrás, and the Camargo Corrêa South Atlantic Shipyard. The initiative definitively inserts the Suape Port into the reactivation of the Brazilian ship-building industry.

The land leveling work for the shipyard began in February. The first ship is expected to begin construction in March of next year and will be ready in 2010. The shipyard will generate a total of 5 thousand direct and 15 thousand indirect jobs.