the Swap port Recorded one of the largest operations by a private agent to import LPG (liquefied petroleum gas and cooking gas) to Northeast Brazil.
A partnership between Interco (a start-up in the commodities sector) and the Argentine company Transportadora Gas del Sur allowed the port of Pernambucan to receive 12,500 tons of LPG.
The product was acquired by distributors operating in the industrial port complex to meet the consumption in the region.
Interco has contracts with Nacional Gás Butano, Copa Energia, Supergasbras, Ultragaz and Consigaz.
The operation was carried out recently, and Interco reported that the goods were transported by the ship Eco Arctic, coming from the port of Bahia Blanca, located in the south of the province of Buenos Aires.
“The goal is to offer distributors a guarantee, allowing them to continue their operations continuously. Distributors are interested in constantly implementing this process, optimizing the flow of initial supplies, ”Marcos Paulo Ferraz, Commodity and Trade Director of the startup, comments.
According to data from the National Petroleum Agency (ANP), LPG sales in Brazil totaled 6.74 million tons between January and November 2022. 25.7% of this volume was provided by imports.
Currently, national refineries cannot meet all the demand for cooking gas, and the supply of the domestic market is also dependent on acquisitions in the international market.
Breaking Petrobras’ monopoly helps Suape
Prior to this record in Suape, the largest LPG imports to the Northeast were under the responsibility of Petrobras.
The operation at the port became possible after the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE) decided that Petrobras needed to keep the BW Princess tanker in operation, to stockpile the product, even if the company ceased operations in the sector.
In this way, says Marcos Paulo Ferraz, the state-owned national company opened space for private companies to use the capacity of the tanker, which operates in the outer port of Swabi, where there are four berths for the bulk of the state-owned liquid. Company located from Pernambuco.
Petrobras broke its monopoly on this type of activity in March 2021, when new rules came into effect for the sector across the country.
According to Interco CEO Nicholas Taylor, attracting new fuel flow infrastructure projects in the country can help enhance market competition and lower prices for end consumers.
Suape’s director of port management, Nelson Montero, shares Nicholas’ reasoning.
“It is excellent news for Pernambuco and the Northeast. And for the port, which will see a significant increase in the movement of this type of cargo,” he says.