Homa releases report on the Açu Port case, located in the state of Rio de janeiro

Latin America is under a process of expansion of the mining and metallurgical sector, particularly Brazil, which placed second among the largest exporters of iron ore in the world in 2013. The economic dependence of the region in relation to this activity is alarming and subject to the vulnerabilities of high and low cycles in commodity prices, which generate structural crisis in the sector.

The 2003-2013 period represented a megacycle of commodities, under which the global im- ports of ores increased 630% (US$ 38 billion to US$ 277 billion). Over these years, the economic reliance of Brazil in export, mainly, of iron ore has deepened. Large-scale projects with government support in an attempt of boosting the economy were also carried out.

The project of the Açu Mine-Port is part of this logic, its original idea dating back from 1999, as an ambition of the government of the State of Rio de Janeiro, represented by former governor Anthony Garotinho. His government was succeeded by his wife Rosinha Garotinho, who continued the project, which has always been defended as of public interest. Through private meetings, there was the association of project with Eliezer Batista, who passed it along to his son, Eike Batista. From then, a complex system of business relations begins to unfold, making the accountability of those involved, in addition to the understanding of the case more difficult, but regardless, a problem that must be faced.