MSC to invest over US$3bn in Brazilian ports

Swiss group Terminal Investment Limited (TIL), an arm of global container shipping company MSC, announced an investment of 17bn reais (US$3.3bn) in Brazilian ports. 

Of the total, 4bn reais are earmarked for the company's leasing contract at a terminal in Santos port, the country's busiest, in São Paulo state. Of that amount, 2bn reais were already disbursed.  

The firm also plans to invest 3bn reais to deepen the access channel at the Portonave terminal in Santa Catarina state. 

The other 10bn reais will be go to general investments in the firm’s Brazilian operations, the ports and airports ministry said in a statement on Monday.

TIL and the government did not provide a time period for the investments. The company also operates in Brazil at a terminal in Rio de Janeiro.

The planned investments were announced after a meeting attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, presidential chief of staff Rui Costa, ports and airports minister Silvio Costa Filho, MSC group president Diego Aponte and TIL CEO Ammar Kanaan, among others.

"After meeting with President Lula, a new meeting of the company's representatives and minister Rui Costa was scheduled for Tuesday. The minister requested the meeting to learn more in depth about the company's investment plans and how to advance on that. The meeting will discuss how to expand the capacity of Brazilian ports, notably Santos, which suffers from bottlenecks for receiving container ships," a person with knowledge of the company's plans told BNamericas, asking not to be named for this article.