In Pecém (CE), the dream of leading the energy transition has given way to realism: new routes to China, more cabotage, and a bet on the Transnordestina railway.
Maximiliano Quintino, a typical Cearense known for his good humor even in difficult times, could not hide his pessimism just weeks after taking over as president of the Pecém Port Complex, one of Ceará’s main engines of economic growth.
Soon after assuming office earlier this year, he received the news that Brazil’s National Electric System Operator (ONS) would not authorize the transmission of the energy needed to transform the complex into the world’s largest producer of green hydrogen (H₂V).
With Europe reeling from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and mounting environmental pressures, H₂V had become a global energy cure-all at the start of the decade. Companies from around the world announced investments in Pecém, signed land reservation contracts, and planned to flood Europe with the planet’s greenest fuel.
“I still believe in the project, but I think there might have been a bit of excessive optimism because of the context at the time,” the executive says.
Max, as he is called, realized that hoping to meet reality would not yield quick results. “It was tough to accept that the energy wasn’t coming, that production costs were too high, and that potential buyers were no longer as enthusiastic about green hydrogen,” he says. “But Pecém is so big that I always believed our path was to diversify our operations.”
In his first year at the helm, Max considers one of his greatest achievements to be the expansion of long-haul routes connecting the port to destinations such as the Far East, the Asian subcontinent, and the United States. “More than 60% of our cargo is cabotage, and we can use that to our advantage because of our location,” he says.
The goal was to shorten long routes and turn Pecém into a hub from which much of the cargo could be distributed throughout Brazil.
In the first half of the year, Pecém increased container throughput by 37%, while general cargo volume rose 7%. Growth was driven by a new route linking Ceará directly to China, cutting transport time by 50%. And thanks to its cabotage expertise, much of what arrives in containers at Pecém is redistributed to smaller Brazilian ports.
The port is also preparing for exponential growth in solid bulk cargo over the next few years. To support that, it is investing more than R$ 1.2 billion to expand its fully offshore terminal next year, awaiting the completion of the Transnordestina railway.
CSN, the concessionaire building and operating the line, expects that starting in 2027, cargo movement at the port will increase by at least 6 million tonnes — the equivalent of 30% of Pecém’s total throughput last year.
“Before 2040, we expect to be moving 20 million tonnes through the port,” says Transnordestina president Tufi Daher Filho.
Max says he is excited about projects like this and others emerging due to the port’s strategic location and large expansion area for industrial facilities, such as mega data center construction projects aimed at serving the U.S. market.
“But we still believe in green hydrogen. We’re ready for that project to truly take off,” he says.
Source: Valor Econômico
