Row shuts Brazilian terminal

TERMINAL de Conteineres do Paranagua, the private container terminal for the Brazilian port, has been ordered to halt operations because of “environmental reasons” in the culmination of a long-running feud with the port authority APPA, by Robert Ward in Brazil.

Those who watch the Brazilian port scene closely will not be surprised as there has been a simmering war of words between TCP and APPA since Eduardo Requião was named president of APPA last January, following the election of his brother Roberto as governor of the state of Parana.

The maverick Eduardo Requião has been quoted as telling a newspaper: “The neo-liberal mob that existed in Parana has now been broken. TCP has not presented the licenses needed to operate and so the loading and unloading of containers has been banned.”

TCP, in which TCB of Barcelona has the majority stake, has been closed for more than a week following an order from the Parana Environmental Institute which claims the box terminal has not complied with environmental rules. It accuses TCP of “operating without an environmental licence”.

TCP has since issued a press release saying it has complied with all regulations and it is also the responsibility of APPA to help with compliance.

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