Published in jun 10 2020 - 16:07

Even considering automation increase, increase in capacity will generate openings in terminals and construction

 The implementation of the Port of Santos new Zoning and Development Plan (PDZ), currently under analysis at the Infrastructure Ministry (Minfra), is set to result in investments around R$ 9.7 billion (approximately US$ 2 billion) between the next five and ten years, along with an estimated 60.4 thousand jobs in the region. The projection was made by Santos Port Authority (SPA), the state-run company responsible for the ports administration, which designed the new port plan taking into consideration the necessity of increasing about 50% of the port complex capacity by 2040, up to 240.6 million tons.

 The near US$ 2 billion package is divided between investments in terminals with ongoing contracts (US$ 500 million), in 8 new biddings or area incorporations starting 2021 (US$ 1.1 billion), and road-railway access renovations (US$ 400 million).

 As a means of comparison, 60.4 thousand jobs equate to 21% of the current population of the three cities around the Port of Santos – Santos (204,2 thousand), Guarujá (54,6 thousand) e Cubatão (28,9 thousand), according to 2017 data from the Brazilian Institute of Statistic Geography (IBGE).

 In construction work alone, SPA foresees the creation of 58 thousand jobs over the next 5 years, of which 19.3 thousand direct, 9 thousand indirect and 29.7 thousand income-effect. To get to these numbers, SPA applied the National Bank for Social and Economic Development (BNDES) methodology, adapted by Planning and Logistics Company (EPL), the values of which represent the total jobs generated for the whole period of the project’s execution.

 Besides, the enlargement of both capacity and movement will result in at least 2.4 thousand new direct jobs in terminals, an increase of 15% over the current basis, out of 16.1 thousand to 18.5 thousand – included in the sum port terminal employees and single-job workers.

 The new PDZ projects the port of the future, starting from the premises of clusterization of areas by cargo type, with scale gain, full berth dedication, and increase in rail cargo share, aligned with the best practices around the world.

 “The survey shows that this PDZ will be one of the most important engines, if not the foremost, to the generation of millions of jobs and income in the region. The increase in job offers considers, even, the aspect of automation and the utilization of new technologies that might affect the necessary workforce profile. Even so, points to this significant increase in offer, especially in some product chains”, affirms SPA’s CEO, Fernando Biral.

 For instance, the perspective is that the container segment amplifies the number of direct workers from the current 5.7 thousand to 6.5 thousand, as dynamic capacity moves from 5.3 million TEU (twenty-feet container equivalent units) to 8.7 million TEU in 2030, as projected in PDZ.

 Such data considers the quantity of workers in 2020 as informed by current organized port terminals and Ogmo to SPA assigned to covid-19 combat. Between the private use terminals (TUPs), only DP World Santos has been considered for the survey of direct jobs. Other TUPs and terminals with rights-of-way, that did not provide current data, weren’t considered.

 According to SPA’s Business Development and Regulation Director, Bruno Stupello, responsible for the survey, the applied methodology considers a deflator in the relation between capacity and job posts, influenced by the potential increase in applied technology in the sector. “The job balance is positive and represents significative impulse to the generation of income and, consequently, consume in our region. It is a new phase of national port infrastructure expansion, creating better conditions to local economy”.