Antaq approves LLX terminal in Itaguai

LLX Sudeste, one of the ship terminals from LLX Logistica SA, a company from the EBX group, of Eike Batista, received the authorization from the Agencia Nacional dos Transportes Aquaticos (Antaq) to develop its project, which will require investments of US$ 740 million to transport 50 million iron ore per year. Antaq’s director gave green signal for LLX Sudeste to build and explore a ship terminal for private mix use, dedicated to the transportation of own iron ore and from others, in Ilha da Madeira, Itaguaí district, on the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro.

The LLX Sudeste’s project foresees the beginning of operations in the second semester of 2011. The terminal will start to operate with a 50 million tons capacity of iron ore per year, but there is the possibility to expand this volume to 100 million tons per year on a second stage, which will require further investments. In August 2009, LLX had already received the license for the installation of the port of Sudeste, according to information given by the company.

As verified by Valor, LLX presented Antaq the technical viability study with projections of transported volume on its terminal. The proportion of the predicted own freight is 64% and freight from others, another 36%. The LLX terminal will be used to handle the production of iron ore made by MMX, the mining company of EBX group. The confirmation of its own freight, in a character role, is one of the requirements for the granting of authorization to private terminals, under the new regulatory framework for ports, established by Decree No. 6620/08, which established new rules for private investment in the Brazilian port sector.

According to the regulator agency, the declared freight owned by LLX Sudeste justifies the implantation of the terminal. Beyond the viability study, the company presented Antaq predictions about cash flow and internal returning tax of the project. This tax would be 17%, considering only the terminal operation with its own freight. When considering the transportation of own and third freights, the tax goes for 23%.

LLX did not said anything for Valor. On Antaq’s process, the Companhia Docas do Rio de Janeiro (CDRJ) the ship authority responsible for the port of Itaguai, gave information for the agency about the questions related to a possible interference of LLX terminal on the others operations in the port. The access channels to the port of Itaguai may absorb, according to the Companhia Docas, the increase of ship traffic represented by LLX Sudeste project.

The president of Companhia Docas, Jorge Luiz de Mello, informed that are predicted investments of about US$ 140 million on the port canals, on the second phase of the Growing Acceleration Program 2 (GAP). One of the expected interventions is the broadening and deepening of the canal that leads to LLX new terminal, Mello said. There are also expected works on the main canal that access the port.

The analyses made by Antaq searched to ensure that the works of the logistics company will not interfere on the construction of a shipyard and a naval base of the Navy to be installed adjacent to the organized port area. The Navy had communicated CDRJ, according to Antaq’s documents, that the project in its shipyard and naval base are “in harmony” with LLX terminal. “We work with six hands”, said the president of CDRJ. The Secretaria Especial de Portos (SEP) had also manifested in a positive way for the construction and exploration of the LLX Sudeste terminal.