Page 62 - Suape 45 Anos

A delusion of grandeur that is good for you

It is said the people of the State of Pernambuco have delusions of other ships, and then shipped to various countries in the Americas,
grandeur. Are these not, however, justified when it comes to the Suape including Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Mexico and
Port and Industrial Complex? The undertaking that started out with a the United States.
mission to diversify the State’s economy – which had up till then de- The outer port contains the four liquid bulk cargo piers and the
pended almost exclusively on sugarcane – can now, four and half de- Multipurpose Quays (MPQs). A floating LPG cooking gas storage tank
cades later, boast very healthy results. Suape is now home to 83 com- is moored to one of the piers. Suape is currently a world leader in the
panies, which, combined, directly create employment for over 20,000 shipment of liquid bulk cargos (diesel, gasoline, aviation fuel, crude
workers. Private investment alone totals almost R$ 74,5 billions. oil, and other petroleum products) and it owes this achievement to
One of the main public ports in Brazil, Suape has become home to the existence of the Abreu e Lima Refinery (Rnest). It may have taken
businesses that are of vital importance for the regional and national 50 years to bring the Refinery to Pernambuco, but, since it began ope-
economy. The port operates 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, with no rations, it has brought about a veritable transformation in the local
restrictions related to the tides or weather conditions. In 2023, a to- economy. Suape alone is responsible for 10% of ICMS (Sale of Goods
tal of 1,499 ships berthed at the port. These included 347-meter-long and Services Tax) revenue in Pernambuco.
container ships that can only be accommodated by world-class docks Fuel oil is the main product passing through Pernambuco. Now
with compatible infrastructure. work has recommenced on construction of the second Rnest oil refi-
When they arrive in Pernambuco, these and other giant ships nery train, the forecast for the near future could not be better. Up to
berth at Suape’s docks, in either the inner or the outer port. The 10,000 new jobs will be created by this construction project. When
inner port has a total of five berths, which can load and unload, the new stage is completed, refinery production will be stepped up
not only containerized cargo, but also grain, sugar, vehicles, and and Suape’s throughput is expected to increase at least twofold.
other goods. The vehicles hub is already the largest in the North To ensure that Rnest oil leaves Pernambuco in even larger oil tan-
and Northeast regions of Brazil. It works with exports, imports, and kers, such as those of the Suezmax class, it is important to conclude
transshipment, and recorded growth of 42% in 2023, with a total dredging of the port’s outer channel. A state-of-the-art dredger will re-
throughput of 80,647 units. move sediment and rocks across a six-kilometer area. The depth will
It is from here, for example, that cars produced by the Jeep plants be increased 20 meters along the whole length of the channel.
in Goiana and by Fiat in Betim (both part of the Stellantis Automobile Another expected result of dredging is that it will make Suape
Hub) are shipped to Mexico and Argentina. Vehicles manufactured even more attractive to new operations. These are tending to
in Uruguay and Argentina are unloaded in Suape, transferred onto appear more rapidly now, after the complex regained its autonomy

62 | Suape 45 anos