With an estimated investment of BRL 6,6 billion, the offshore port in RN is expected to handle around four million tons of salt per year

In order to increase the amount of inputs exported to other countries, mainly sea salt, the government of Rio Grande do Norte intends to develop a project to build an offshore port in the city of Porto do Mangue. The undertaking will be carried out in Public Private Partnership and has aroused the interest of Chinese investors, but it will take about five years to be built.

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According to estimates by the State Secretariat for Economic Development (Sedec/RN), the new port in Rio Grande do Norte should initially handle approximately four million tons of salt per year, with the expectation of exporting other ores such as iron, limestone and feldspar. About R$ 6,6 billion will be invested to implement the project.

To the secretary of sedec RN, Jaime Calado, such a port is a very large and expensive project that should take another three to five years to be built and, according to him, a Working Group has already been formed to carry out the studies and make the licensing feasible, composed of State Infrastructure Secretariat (SIN) and the Institute for Sustainable Development of the Environment (Idema), in addition to Sedec.

There is a part of the license that will be on land because it corresponds to the boarding area, so it is statewide. When the process has completed the entire design, Ibama will be responsible for licensing. “We want an offshore port, which is at sea, away from the coast”, informed the secretary.

Another offshore port in RN already exports sea salt produced in the state

Porto Ilha de Areia Branca, also located in RN, is an offshore port specialized in the transport of sea salt produced in the state, which corresponds to 95% of production in Brazil.

According to the Government of RN, the United States is one of the main countries interested in Potiguar salt, because due to its high purity rate (99,88%), the Potiguar product is a great ally in melting the ice that covers the American metropolises in the winter period.

*Information via Tribuna do Norte