Recife port dredging to begin this month

A 30mn-real (US$10.9mn) dredging project for the Brazilian port of Recife in Pernambuco state will begin this month, the state government reported. The project will take five months and aims to allow larger and more modern ships to dock at the port. "This work will permit greater competitiveness among our products in the international market," according to state economic development, tourism and sports minister Alexandre Valença. Recife, along with Suape port 40km to the south, saw cargo movement increase 27% to 661,000t in November compared to the same month last year. Movement in the first nine months of the year rose 13.9% to 5.51Mt compared to the same nine-month period in 2003.