Since the seventies, the Sepetiba Bay has been considered as the ideal region for expansion of the port capacity of the State of Rio de Janeiro. The old Port of Rio was no longer in a position to bear the growth in demand for cargo handling. With development of the Sepetiba Port Complex starting in 1982, the first project implemented by CDRJ - Rio de Janeiro Dock Company was the Coal Terminal, to serve steelmaker Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional - CSN, in Volta Redonda. In July 1997, this terminal was leased to the selfsame CSN, now privatized, and has a commitment to handle a minimum of 3.4 million tons per year of varied cargoes.
1982 saw the opening of the Alumina Terminal, to serve the VALESUL plant, located to the East of Santa Cruz, also capable of handling other bulk cargoes.
Since the first half of 1999, the Iron Ore Export Terminal operated by COMPANHIA PORTUÁRIA BAÍA DE SEPETIBA - CPBS has been in operation, this linked to FERTECO Mineração.
The project of the Sepetiba Container Terminal - TECON 1, in its turn, was developed by CDRJ from the early nineties onwards, receiving Federal Government investments through the project to modernize the ports, including the "Brazil in Action" project.
In this scenario, following the guidelines of Law No. 8630, of February 1993 - the Port Modernization Law, CDRJ transferred to STSA the operation of TECON 1, with its history starting as follows:
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14/04/98 - Publication of the Notice for the Auction of the Sepetiba Container Terminal.
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03/09/98 - Auction held at the Rio de Janeiro Stock Exchange. The Terminal is leased for its minimum price; - R$92,965 million.
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05/02/99 - Signature of the Certificate of Transfer of Real Goods, concerning the transfer of domain and possession of the of the real properties and goods which make up the Terminal.
SEPETIBA TECON S.A. - STSA an association of COMPANHIA SIDERÚRGICA NACIONAL CSN and COMPANHIA VALE DO RIO DOCE - CVRD, through the public auction held in September 1998 won the right to exploit, manage and be concessionaire of the Container Terminal at the Sepetiba Port Complex.
The Lease Agreement was signed on October 23 1998, and STSA received the Terminal, provisionally, in February 1999. The term of the lease is 25 years; - renewable for a further 25, paying R$39 million cash. STSA will also invest some R$100 million to equip the Terminal and achieve the target of 600,000 containers per year.
