APMT investing $280 million new Brazil terminal

The new terminal is expected to be fully operational by June 2026 and will be APMT’s fourth venture in Brazil—alongside its operations in Santos (São Paulo), Pecem (Ceara), and Itapoa (Santa Catarina)—and the first in which the group will hold 100% ownership.

“Investments like this strengthen the Port of Suape. Our goal is to grow Suape by 5% this year, generating more jobs and income for the people of Pernambuco,” said Silvio Costa Filho, Brazil’s Minister of Ports and Airports, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

Leo Huisman, CEO of APM Terminals for the Americas region, said the increased capacity at Suape is expected to immediately benefit imports from Asia’s textile sector by reducing logistics costs and enhancing competitiveness for regional exporters.

The new terminal will be 100% electrified, marking the first of its kind in Latin America. “The cost of technology for electrified terminals has been dropping rapidly,” Huisman said.

APM Terminals is currently operating at full capacity in Brazil. “We’ll need to double our capacity within the next five to 10 years,” he added.

Suape, the sixth-largest port in Brazil by cargo volume, was chosen for its advancements in dredging. Currently, no Brazilian port has the desired depth of 17 metres, a national bottleneck in attracting large vessels used globally.

Suape’s external channel has already been dredged to 20 metres, while the internal channel is expected to reach 16.2 metres within six months, supported by a $56 million investment that includes jetty restoration.

The dredging at Suape will also enhance operations at liquid bulk terminals, facilitating the output from Petrobras’s Abreu e Lima Refinery, whose construction resumed earlier this year.

The Suape terminal, expected to generate 300 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect ones, is one of three global projects currently underway by APMT, alongside developments in Rijeka, Croatia, and Vietnam.

APMT’s new terminal will be the second container terminal at Suape, joining the existing facility operated by ICTSI.