Brazil's First Federal Tribunal said US agribusiness conglomerate Cargill Inc could reopen its Santarem soya terminal, suspending a lower court order that it be shut, the Port Authority of Para state said on Wednesday.
The First Federal Tribunal could not be reached for conformation. Cargill said it had not yet received official notification from the tribunal that it could reopen the terminal.
A lower federal court in the north-eastern state of Para, where the terminal is located, said on January 8 the company would have to stop activities at the soya terminal, which was formally opened last April, because it lacked an environmental license.
The First Federal Tribunal's injunction would come after the Port Authority appealed the state court's order that Cargill suspend operations from Wednesday at the terminal.
The Port Authority had leased a portion of the existing Santarem port to Cargill to build its soya terminal.
"With the injunction, (the terminal) can return to operations today," said Nelson Marzullo Maia, the spokesman for the Port Authority. "We only need official notification."
The lower court ordered Cargill to shut the terminal because it failed to complete an environmental impact study.
Cargill, which suspended activities at the terminal on Wednesday, said it had fully complied with the requests of the Para state environmental secretary.

Copyright Reuters, 2004

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