Mubadala, Trafigura hire banks to sell Brazil port: Reports

Mubadala Capital and commodities trader Trafigura have hired UBS BB and Goldman Sachs to help sell a Brazilian iron-ore port they bought a decade ago from former oil and mining tycoon Eike Batista, according to a Reuters report quoting two people familiar with the matter.

Mubadala and Trafigura are looking to sell the port terminal in Rio de Janeiro state, called Porto Sudeste, together with an iron-ore mining project they both own in the state of Minas Gerais, said one of the sources. The mining project is called Mineração Morro do Ipê, the source said.

Created in 2016, the mining project includes two mines and their processing units. One mine, Ipê, produces about 3.5 million metric tonnes of iron ore a year. Another, Tico-Tico, was licensed less than a year ago.

The owners are investing BRL1.3bn ($230m) to expand total production to about 9 million tonnes a year.

Goldman Sachs did not reply to requests for comment. UBS BB, a partnership between UBS and Brazil’s Banco do Brasil, declined to comment.

Mubadala Capital, the asset management arm of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, and Trafigura also declined to comment on the matter.

Mubadala acquired Porto Sudeste in 2014

Earlier this month, Porto Sudeste said in a regulatory filing that it was holding preliminary talks with financial advisers to explore a potential sale of the port.

Potential buyers have not yet been contacted and the sale may happen in the next six to nine months, one of the sources said.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss talks that are private.

“The port has good potential due to its location,” said infrastructure expert Renata Moura Sena, a professor at the Pontifical University of São Paulo. “Its focus is on bulk shipments, mainly iron ore, making it reliant on exports.”

Porto Sudeste says it can handle up to 50 million tonnes of iron ore per year.

In 2023, the port shipped about 26.1 million tonnes of iron ore, compared with 17.4 million tonnes a year earlier. The port also handled nine oil transshipments last year, up from five in 2022.

The sovereign wealth fund and the trading company completed their acquisition of Porto Sudeste in early 2014.

“Selling is part of their business,” said one of the sources. “They have now owned the port for a long time.”

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