MPor extends the transfer of Porto do Itaqui to Emap until 2051

The Ministry of Ports and Airports (Mpor) and the government of Maranhão made official this Thursday an amendment that extends the Agreement for Delegation of the Port of Itaqui to the Maranhão Port Administration Company (Emap), which began in 2001, for 25 years, until 2051. The contract includes the São José de Ribamar Pier and the Ponta da Espera and Cujupe ferry terminals.

At the agreement renewal ceremony, which was attended by the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, and the governor of Maranhão, Carlos Brandão, the president of Emap, Oquerlina Costa, said that the extension of the concession period allows the company to plan the investments that will be made over the next 25 years in the infrastructure of the port complex. She added that another berth will be delivered in 2026, which will make it possible to expand movement, seek new markets and attract investors.

Silvio Costa Filho highlighted that renewing Emap’s management term brings legal certainty to seek new investments, including foreign ones. He recalled that, in the last four years, the Port of Itaqui recorded an average annual growth of more than 10% in cargo movement and that in 2025 the volume handled reached 37 million tons. “The Port of Itaqui today is a reference in the Northeast and Brazil,” he said.

Governor Carlos Brandão also highlighted the importance of early renewal as a factor that guarantees legal security so that businesspeople can invest. According to him, the additive term represents approval by the federal government of the work being done by the Itaqui administration. “We are advancing, breaking export and import records,” he stated.

The Ministry of Ports and Airports informed that two auctions of area in the Port of Itaqui are planned for 2026. One of them will be a terminal for the movement of solid vegetable bulk, such as wheat, corn and soybeans, and the other will be an area destined for the transshipment of solid mineral bulk, such as fertilizers. The ministry’s expectation is that, together, they will represent investments of around R$1.3 billion.