A subsidiary of Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista’s mining, energy and engineering conglomerate has announced plans to build a shipyard at an industrial complex in the southeastern city of Sao Joao da Barra. The shipyard will have a 2,400-meter (7,850-foot) wharf and cover an area 70 percent larger than the original project design had specified, Offshore Services X said in a statement sent Tuesday to Brazil’s securities and exchange commission.
The company had initially planned to install the shipyard in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina before deciding on the Acu industrial complex in Rio de Janeiro state.
According to the company’s business plan, the shipyard will have initial steel processing capacity of 180,000 tons annually, to be subsequently expanded to 460,000 tons.
A total of $1.7 billion will be allocated for construction of the shipyard, according to the company’s initial plans, although it did not confirm that amount Tuesday. South Korea’s Hyundai, which has a 10 percent stake in OSX, will participate in the project.
Environmental impact studies by the relevant authorities are in an “advanced stage of technical analysis,” the company said, adding that it hopes to receive the preliminary license for the project in April 2011.
OSX decided to build the shipyard in Rio de Janeiro state instead of Santa Catarina because of the potential for expanding the wharf – which could eventually total 3,525 meters -, as well as the port’s water depth and productive capacity.
Another factor was the chance to offer more services, including ship repair, and possible synergies with other companies in the sector due to the location of the shipyard within the Acu complex, also owned by Batista.
Currently under construction, the complex will house several steelmakers, cement and metal producers, a port terminal for loading iron ore and coal, as well as other companies.
OSX is the shipbuilding and oil industry and equipment unit of the EBX conglomerate, which is owned by Batista, the wealthiest person in Brazil and the eighth richest man in the world, according to Forbes magazine.
The company had initially planned to install the shipyard in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina before deciding on the Acu industrial complex in Rio de Janeiro state.
According to the company’s business plan, the shipyard will have initial steel processing capacity of 180,000 tons annually, to be subsequently expanded to 460,000 tons.
A total of $1.7 billion will be allocated for construction of the shipyard, according to the company’s initial plans, although it did not confirm that amount Tuesday. South Korea’s Hyundai, which has a 10 percent stake in OSX, will participate in the project.
Environmental impact studies by the relevant authorities are in an “advanced stage of technical analysis,” the company said, adding that it hopes to receive the preliminary license for the project in April 2011.
OSX decided to build the shipyard in Rio de Janeiro state instead of Santa Catarina because of the potential for expanding the wharf – which could eventually total 3,525 meters -, as well as the port’s water depth and productive capacity.
Another factor was the chance to offer more services, including ship repair, and possible synergies with other companies in the sector due to the location of the shipyard within the Acu complex, also owned by Batista.
Currently under construction, the complex will house several steelmakers, cement and metal producers, a port terminal for loading iron ore and coal, as well as other companies.
OSX is the shipbuilding and oil industry and equipment unit of the EBX conglomerate, which is owned by Batista, the wealthiest person in Brazil and the eighth richest man in the world, according to Forbes magazine.