Invest more in the shipping of fruit, go all out in the frozen meat business and become one of Brazil’s major hub (cargo consolidation) ports. These are the goals that the Director of CearáPortos Business Development, Mário Lima Júnior, cast as priorities for the future of the Port of Pecém. In an exclusive interview with PortFolk, he also spoke about the Multi-Purpose Terminal (Tmut), which will be ready by the end of the year.

The director pointed out a problem that, in his opinion, hinders other Ceará entrepreneurs. “In 2009 we had serious problems with federal roads in Ceará.” Follow the main responses of this interview below.

PortFolk – How much extra cargo will the Port of Pecém handle with Tmut ready by the end of the year?
Mário Lima Júnior - Tmut will handle 500 thousand TEUs, 450 tons of fruit and 3 million tons of steel products. If we add the planning and bidding times, we have been working on this project for five years. We have the advantage of being a State port and thus able to respond more quickly to business decisions. In states with good infrastructure, like Ceará, a state port is very important from the development viewpoint.

PortFolk – Is it possible for Pecém to become a hub-port?
Mário Lima Júnior - Yes, it is absolutely possible and regionally indicated. The hub-port feature applies to ports geographically well situated. It’s there that long distance transport in larger ships on smaller ship routes to smaller ports is enabled. In the North and Northeast, only Pecém and Suape automatically assume this feature.

PortFolk - What would be advantageous for Pecém to house Petrobras’ Premium II Refinery?
Mário Lima Júnior - Pecém will be a fundamental logistics tool for the Premium II Refinery. It is important to remember that along with Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecém (CSP), the Refinery was the main business motivation for the state of Ceará to build the port. We believe that the two million tons per year currently handled by Pecém will multiply 10 times within 10 years. Of course, in the field of logistics, one structure leverages another and the port costs will be lower because of the scale and diversity of equipment involved. The refinery will be very good for us.

PortFolk – Are there any logistics bottlenecks that worry CearáPortos?
Mário Lima Júnior - In 2009, we had serious problems with federal roads in Ceará. Particularly in the arteries that connect us to the Bahia producing centers, Aracatí, Mossoró, Petrolina and Juazeiro. Cargo that arrives from the North, from Piauí, Tocantins and Pará suffer. What happened is that the flow of road and rail transport to the Port of Pecém increased significantly. Thus, investment became necessary. One thing that needs to change is the speed of trains. Today they’re very slow and this takes away the competitiveness of railways.

PortFolk - Why does Pecém bet on frozen meat export? What markets can be gained this way?
Mário Lima Júnior - We bet on frozen meat export, because it uses the same structure as the fruit courtyard. There are 1,008 cold storage sockets at the Port of Pecém. In 2009 we exported 23,621 tons of meat from Tocantins and Pará. The Russian and Asian markets are the major consumers, and because of this, we are preparing an inspection chamber for use by the Ministry of Agriculture. The constant export of meat, fruit and fish enables the maintenance of long-haul routes and the volumes ensure the routes.