M&T EXPO: THE MOMENT OF RETAKING!

The new edition of M&T EXPO –International Trade Show of Equipment for Construction and Mining will be carried out in the appropriate moment to present new trends, technologies and equipment, and consequently to close good business deals. This analysis comes from the engineer Afonso Mamede, president of the Brazilian Association of Technology for Construction and Mining (Sobratema). The trade show will be carried out in June 5 to 8, 2018 at the São Paulo Expo Exhibition & Convention Center.

“Brazil started a process of recovery and the perspective is that this retaking will become stronger from 2018 on, reflecting very positively in the second half. Thus, M&T Expo will be carried out in the right moment, when the investments in infrastructure will be more consolidated. This will consequently reflect in the projects and make stronger the market of equipment for construction and mining”, says Mamede.

This positive estimation is based on the results issued by the research institutes, based on the actions carried out by the economic team of the government. Brazilian GDP increased in the first and second quarters of this year. From April to June, it increased 0.2 percent, compared to the first quarter of this year. If compared to the second quarter of 2016, this increase was of 0.3 percent, due to the area of servicing and the consumption of families.

According to Mamede, the government is looking for ways to unlock investments in infrastructure, announcing new concessions or encouraging the sale of the shareholding control of already-bid concessions. “It is sure that the large Brazilian contractors are passing by a difficult scenario caused by a series of factors. One of them is the lack of funds, associated to the rising of credit for long-term loans to finance the programmed projects”, explains him.

Mamede considers that most current investments in infrastructure are necessarily coming from overseas. “The sale of the shareholding control of concessions may be a solution for Brazilian contractors reducing their indebtedness. This would ensure a better financial balance and at the same time is—for the buyers—an opportunity for inputting resources, continue projects and update existing structures, ensuring an appropriate financial return through these measures”. An example was the sale of the share of Odebrecht Transport in the concessionaire of Galeão Airport to the Chinese group HNA Infrastructure.

In the case of initiatives from the federal government, Mamede shows the input of 57 new projects in the Programa de Parcerias de Investimentos (PPI – Program of Partnership in Investments), including 14 airports, 11 sections of transmission lines, 15 harbor terminals and share in public companies, such as Eletrobrás. With these measures the government expects to receive approximately R$ 44 billion in bestowals along the years of contract duration. Among the new projects are the airports of Congonhas (SP), Cuiabá (MT) and Recife (PE). It is also being discussed the reduction of Infraero’s share in the airports of Brasília (DF), Galeão (RJ), Confins (BH) and Guarulhos (SP). The sections of transmission lines are distributed along ten states: Bahia, Ceará, Pará, Paraná, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, Minas, Gerais and Tocantins. In an interview to Estadão/Broadcast, the president of the Bank of Brazil, Paulo Caffarelli, said that the bank is studying to release up to R$ 50 billion in credit for 18 projects of infrastructure.

“If these projects are auctioned at the end of this year or at the beginning of the next year, a huge motion in the area of infrastructure, with real benefits for the entire productive chain will occur”, says Mamede.