OSX to build new shipyard in Brazil

The proposed shipyard will have a 2,400m wharf, with expansion capacity to reach 3,525m, and cover an area 70% larger than the original project design had specified. 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 an initial steel processing capacity of 180,000 tonnes annually, to be subsequently expanded to 460,000 tonnes. A total of $1.7 billion will be allocated for construction of the shipyard, according to the company’s initial plans. South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industry, which has a 10% 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 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.