Amazon is close to finalizing negotiations to bring a logistics warehouse and a data center to the state of Ceará, Brazil.
Diario do Nordeste reports that Amazon is aiming to build both a distribution center and data center in Maracanaú, in the region of Fortaleza.
The publication said that “only a few details are left” to negotiate between Amazon and the local Government; with an official agreement expected in the second half of 2021. However, construction on the warehouse has seemingly already begun.
Though this week’s report was about the distribution center, local officials said in December they were ready to sign an agreement around bringing an AWS data center to the area.
Discussions between the company and local officials have been ongoing since 2019, with the state reportedly offering tax benefits to lure the eCommerce and cloud giant to the state in the northeast of the country.
Amazon is reportedly already looking to hire for roles related to the distribution center in the area, and at the time of writing is posting vacancies on LinkedIn for cloud and data center roles in Ceará.
In November, the local government announced an agreement with AWS for a Competence Center for Digital Transformation to train local youths.
AWS has a single region in South America, in Brazil’s São Paulo, that opened in 2011. The company has further Edge locations in the country in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, as well as others in Colombia, Argentina, and Chile. Last year the São Paulo Government said AWS was to invest $240 million into its Brazilian cloud infrastructure in the country, but didn’t provide details.
Although all the major cloud providers have a presence in Brazil, all previous regions have been located in and around São Paulo. Colocation companies are also largely focused in the city, with some also operating facilities in Rio. However, Digital Realty has both an Interxion facility as well as an Ascenty data center in Fortaleza, and the city is home to a number of subsea cable landing points including AMX-1, Americas II, Atlantis-2, and the newly-opened Ella Link.
