Brazilian bonanza

摘要

Nearly all the talk among those involved in the shipbuilding sector in Brazil recently has been about the first phase of Transpetro's $3.2Bn, 42-vessel fleet renewal programme. With two of the four contracts signed within the past two months, that grandiose scheme is now coming to fruition. And those two contracts - one worth $1.2Bn for 10 Suezmaxes placed with the new, yet to be built, Atlantico Sul shipyard and the other for $866M for five Aframaxes and four Panamaxes at the Sermetal yard - have given a tremendous boost to Brazilian shipbuilding, which seemed dead and buried just eight years ago. The effect of that Transpetro order, and its huge size, has been to dominate the political agenda and to stop yards taking on orders from the private sector. After all, the yards know they can siphon off more cash from the public than the private sector.