American conglomerate General Electric Co. plans to continue with its project to build a manufacturing operation at the Açu Superport being completed near Rio de Janeiro. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the port is being built by LLX Logistica, which was formerly controlled by Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista. Batista was forced to sell most of his stake in LLX to Washington DC-based EIG Management Co. LLC in September, citing cash-flow difficulties.
The port is located near an area that produces 85% of Brazil's oil and gas. It is planned to have the capacity to handle 350 million metric tons of imports and exports per year, the report said.
WSJ, quoting GE Latin America chief executive Reinaldo Garcia, said the conglomerate is still evaluating what products would be best to manufacture at the port. GE will probably include equipment for the oil and gas industry and marine industry.
GE currently had manufacturing operations at 18 different sites around Brazil. The conglomerate would like to relocate some of them to the port area, the report said. GE is still studying the site and has yet set a date for when construction might start, WSJ said.
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