Total port throughput was 3.56 million TEU in 2016, with Santos Brasil handling 1.42 million TEU, BTP 133 million TEU and Embraport 642,000 TEU, but overcapacity has loomed as Brazil's economy falters, reported IHS Media.
DP World gained approval in June from Brazilian regulatory authorities to take full control of Embraport by buying out the shares of Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht.
When asked what the motivation was for DP World to take full control of Embraport and what advantages this would confer, a company spokesman refused to comment specifically, saying only that DP World's "global model" had stood it in good stead.
"DP World's (Embraport) is an independent multi-user terminal and this model allows us to attract cargo from all shipping lines. We do not have concentration risk to any particular customers and being independent has helped us to continually grow ahead of the market," the spokesman was quoted as saying.
Given the congested access to Santos by road and rail, Embraport, located away from the main town at the Ilha Barnabe, and comprising 653 metres of dock and 207,000 square metres of yard, has always been a clear winner in the port for strategic access, when compared to its rivals. Today, only three per cent of throughput at the port of Santos is handled by rail, and landside road access remains pivotal.
"DP World having full control of the terminal will give it more power and independence to negotiate with shipping lines, bargaining with a more global view," project manager Eduardo Greco at Drewry told Fairplay.
"This means that DP World can now negotiate certain conditions that can be counterbalanced elsewhere and [to] which the former partner would have not necessarily agreed."
Associate at Drewry Shipping Consultants, Michel Donner, does not believe that the acquisition of full control will bring immediate benefits. "I don't think DP World's takeover of 100 per cent of Embraport's shares changes much, as it's not a move that is going to attract thousands of additional containers by itself. Santos still faces overcapacity.
"The most successful facility at Santos is BTP, for the time being; they are almost full, due to handling the 2M [alliance] business."
Total port capacity today is 6.4 million TEU, a figure expected to increase to at least 7.7 million TEU in 2020 as BTP, Embraport and Santos Brasil make their sizeable additions.
Alan Lear, who was CCO at BTP when it expanded in 2013, but now runs consultancy Strategy Consultores Associados, gave the drop in imports by around 10 per cent at Santos of late, even though exports had remained steady, as reason for relatively low capacity utilisation of 55 per cent.