Port of Santos publishes new Zoning and Development Plan

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Published in jul 31 2020 - 16:09


Document update corroborates modernization of Brazil’s largest port complex

 

The Brazilian Ministry of Infrastructure (Minfra) has approved this Tuesday (7/28) the Port of Santos’ new Zoning and Development Plan (PDZ, in its Portuguese acronym), the first update in 15 years to the general planning of the country’s most important port. Minfra’s ordinance Nº 1.620 was published this Wednesday, 7/29, in the Diário Oficial da União (the Brazilian Government’s Official Gazette) and will allow for the modernization of the Port of Santos, by strategically planning the occupation of public areas for the next 20 years. The plan’s enforcement is set to raise the port complex’s capacity in near 50% until 2040, reaching 240.6 million tons.

The instrument was elaborated throughout last year by the Santos Port Authority (SPA) from operational efficiency and port-city integration directives, alongside the world’s best practices. This new PDZ updates the 2006 version, which no longer accounted for the efficient flow of the cargo identified as strategic in the port’s Master Plan – a broader planning instrument from Minfra, published in April 2019, which gave start to the port planning updates.

“With the new PDZ we are planning the Port of Santos of the future, allowing for a leap in efficiency, economies of scale and productivity. It represents a mark for the complex’s modernization, and for employment and income generation in the region. It is necessary to mention that this effort was only successful because of a strong cooperation between SPA, Minfra and Federal Government in service of the national infrastructure, for the new PDZ represents an advance not only for the Santos Bay area, but for all of the national logistics chain, that depends on the country’s foremost foreign trade equipment”, claims SPA’s CEO, Fernando Biral.

Regarding operational efficiency, the new PDZ is designed to contemplate 100% of the hinterland’s projected cargo for the period, the consolidation of areas towards cargo clusters and the rail system’s increase in participation on the overall numbers. As for city-port connections, the plan considers solving current rail-highway interferences and the destination of the Valongo historical quay area to the movement of passengers in cruise ships.

The container-dedicated facilities are projected to experience one of the largest capacity growths among all cargoes: up by 64%, from 5.4 million TEU (twenty-feet standard container equivalent unit) to 8.7 million TEU, with a new dedicated terminal in the Saboó region. But there will be an offer increase on all cargoes until 2040, of which the highlights are:

  • Vegetable solid bulk: 37% high, to 95.3 million tons
  • Liquid bulk: 40% increase, to 22.4 million tons
  • Mineral-origin solid bulk: 43% enlargement, to 17.2 million tons
  • Pulp and Paper: growth of 49%, to 10.5 million tons
  • Two berths for direct loading and unloading, between Alemoa and Saboó

Answering to Federal Government requests for increase in rail participation on the transport matrix, its movement is set to increase by 91%, to 86 million tons, an overall increase of the current 33% share to 40%.

The new plan will be implemented immediately, with the changes in cargo typology in effect as the current contracts reach their term. There will be new leases, expansion of areas, and extension of the rail system – cleaner and more efficient. All in all, the estimate is that US$ 1.87 billion in investments are needed between the next five and ten years, split between those in terminals with ongoing contracts (US$ 482 million), those in 8 new area leases starting 2021 (US$ 1 billion), and those in highway and railway accesses (US$ 386 million).

“It’s been 14 years since the last plan review for the country’s most important port. The new PDZ is not an end in itself; it has a fundamental socioeconomic dimension. By opening the way for US$ 2 billion in investments, most for the next five years, the estimate is that between engineering works and new posts in terminals, over 60.4 thousand jobs will be created, an equivalent to 21% of the population of the three cities around the port – Santos, Guarujá and Cubatão”, affirms Bruno Stupello, SPA’s Business Development and Regulation Director, that oversaw the formulation of the PDZ.

Just with engineering works, SPA projects the creation of 58 thousand jobs over the next 5 years, of which 19.3 thousand indirect, 9 thousand direct and 29.7 thousand income-effect derived jobs. To assess these numbers, SPA applied the National Bank for Social and Economic Development (BNDES) methodology, adapted by Empresa de Planejamento e Logística (EPL), and the values represent total jobs generated throughout the execution of the projects.

Besides, the improvement in capacity and in movement will result in at least 2.4 thousand new direct jobs in terminals, an increase of 15% over the current numbers, from 16.1 thousand workers to 18.5 thousand – included those employed by port terminals as well as those from the local contractor workforce overseen by Órgão Gestor de Mão de Obra (Ogmo).