Sao Paulo (Platts)--18Aug2014/529 pm EDT/2129 GMT
Operations at Brazil's Port of Sudeste in Rio de Janeiro will begin early in the fourth quarter, the port's part owner Trafigura said Monday.
Trafigura, a Dutch commodities trading company, and Mubadala Development, Abu Dhabi's sovereign fund, completed the acquisition of 65% of the port from MMX in February.
"Porto Sudeste ... is in the final stages of construction and is on track to begin operations at the beginning of the last quarter of 2014," the port's chief operating officer, Eugenio Mamede, said.
More than 3,500 people work at the construction site of the port, which will have an initial capacity of 50 million mt/year of iron ore, he added. It will be able to berth Panamax, Capesize and Wozmax vessels.
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The announcement of the start of operations at Sudeste is in response to rumors in the market concerning a potential delay in the opening until 2015.
The announcement does somewhat curb the enthusiasm of Brazilian steelmaker and mining company Usiminas that the export of iron ore could resume in Q3.
Minas Gerais-based Usiminas said during its Q2 results conference call that it was expecting the port to initiate operations by August. The company has an agreement with port owners for the use of an unspecified amount of port capacity.
In addition to Usiminas, development of the port has been watched closely by the market as it is seen as an important outlet for Brazil's mid-size iron ore producers.
--Jose Guerra, jose.guerra@platts.com