Page 22 - Suape 45 Anos

The dream of transforming Suape comes true

In the Tupi language, Suape means “winding path”. The area the production of basic raw materials—such as oil, aluminum and
was called this by the indigenous people because of the winding steel—and physical assets.
course that what is now known as the Rio Massangana before it Two years later, in 1976, an inter-ministerial group was set up to
meets the sea. Uncertain by name, but reliable by nature, this area examine the technical, economic, and financial viability of the pro-
now serves as a port for the entrance and exit of goods. Protected ject. Studies were completed in the following year, and it was then
by a breakwater of reefs, the port has always aroused the interest that the acquisition of around 13,500 hectares of land began. Work
of navigators. First the Portuguese arrived in the region. The Dut- also began on port infrastructure, an internal road system, and the
ch also had their eye on a site through which munitions could be supply of water, electrical power, and telecommunications. Where
shipped during the 17thcentury Pernambuco Insurrection. Nothing there had once only been stone, dust and dreams, the Suape Port
could be more natural than that this area, not much more than 40 Complex had begun to take shape.
kilometers from the city of Recife, should be considered for the lo- Suape’s official date of birth is 7 November 1978, as declared
cation of an industrial port complex. in State Law nº 7,763, which created the SUAPE – Industrial Port
In the 1960s, preliminary feasibility studies were undertaken Complex corporation, charged with overseeing the installation of
for the installation of an industrial port. The site would be requi- the industrial park, conducting building work, and running the port.
red not only to meet existing demand in the region, served by the It would take five more years before the port actually began ope-
Port of Recife, but also to generate new demand for exports and im- ration. On 8 November 1983, Petrobras, which had installed four
ports. It would also, clearly, need to attract strategic industries in an 5,000 m³ tanks to store fuel, moored the Araxá at the recently ope-
increasingly global world. By the early 1970s, the State Government ned Bulk Liquids Pier (PGL-1).
had done the deal. The location for the undertaking would indeed This operation involving the shipment of alcohol produced in
be Suape, with its waters of up to 17 meters in depth and a vast area Pernambuco to other States in Brazil was the first of many. Nowa-
available for installation of an industrial complex. days, in addition to fuel, a wide range of cargo is transported, and
In 1973, work began on the Master Plan. The model for com- the port is a byword for sustainability and innovative technology.
bining a port and industrial complex came from Marseille-Fos, in Suape can also accommodate huge container ships. It has an oil re-
France, and Kashima, in Japan. Two years later, the document had finery, shipyards, a vehicles hub, factories producing goods ranging
already been drawn up and the cornerstone was laid in 1974 by Eral- from motorcycles to pharmaceuticals, from food and beverages to
do Gueiros, the State Governor of the time. Gueiros also asked the wind turbine blades. It is even preparing to host Green Hydrogen
Federal Government for Suape to be included in the 2nd National projects. There will certainly be a lot to talk about for at least the
Development Program (NDP), focusing on power generation, and next 45 years.

22 | Suape 45 anos