Os portos e os nexo da economia política da cidade: o caso do Porto do Itaqui

Abstract

In this work, we present the results of the research project entitled: The Ports and the nexuses of the political economy: The case of the Port of Itaqui. To carry out the research, we dealt with investment programs in the Port of Itaqui, in the Ponta da Espera and Cujupe terminals, as well as investments in other ports in Maranhão. Our research aims to analyze the Brazilian port system, considering its importance for the world economy and its relationship with cities according to the distribution and technical density in the regions of Brazil, with emphasis on the port of Itaqui, located in the municipality of São Luís, MA . The importance of studies on ports is due to the fact that they are the entry and exit doors for international capital, since maritime transport, responsible for approximately 90% of international cargo transport, structures these global logistical devices (MONIÉ, 2012 ). Based on this, we seek to understand the role of the Port of Itaqui in the face of the territorial and international division of labor, as well as its role in the spatial economy of Maranhão. In this work, we emphasize the properties of the port complex of Itaqui and investments in the Port, both public investments, through the State, and private investments. We highlight the relationship between the expansion of the Port and the increase in agribusiness and ore productivity in Carajás. We present the changes in the 1990s in the Brazilian port system through Laws that allowed greater participation of the private sector in the port system. Ports are central technical objects in the world economy and in the configuration of regional and global fixed and flows