APM Terminals is investing $280 million in a new terminal to boost container capacity by 60% at the Suape Port in Ipojuca, Pernambuco, Brazil.
The new terminal is expected to be fully operational by June 2026 and will be APM Terminals’ fourth venture in Brazil, alongside its operations in Santos, Pecem, and Itapoa. It will be the first in which the group holds 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, stated that 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 noted.
APM Terminals is currently operating at full capacity in Brazil. “We’ll need to double our capacity within the next five to ten 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 output from Petrobras’s Abreu e Lima Refinery, whose construction resumed earlier this year.
The Suape terminal is expected to generate 300 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect ones. It is one of three global projects currently underway by APM Terminals, alongside developments in Rijeka, Croatia, and Vietnam.
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