Area over 600,000 square meters at the Port of Santos remains uncertain

Container industry giants press for a super terminal in the STS10 area, increasing the capacity of the Port of Santos (Vanessa Rodrigues/AT)

The Federal Government continues to keep the future of STS10, an area originally designated for a large container terminal on the Saboó Wharf, in suspense. The Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor) is not providing precise information about the discussions involving the space.

The area, which spans over 600,000 square meters, currently only houses the multipurpose terminal Ecoporto, whose lease has expired and been temporarily extended until December. Following contradictions, MPor is not commenting on whether it will renew the contract.

There is still an understanding among the Municipal, State, and Federal governments that STS10 should host the Concais cruise terminal, which is to be relocated from Outeirinhos.

Meanwhile, container industry giants are pushing for a super terminal in the area to increase the capacity of the Port of Santos.

“STS10 is urgent. It can accommodate the cruise terminal, but it is impossible to maintain Ecoporto there. A terminal the size of STS10 would generate approximately R\$ 500 million in taxes and duties collected annually by the Port of Santos”, emphasizes port consultant and A Tribuna columnist Luis Cláudio Montenegro.

According to him, containers are a global priority due to their “diffuse impact” on the economy. “When a bottleneck situation like Santos occurs, it starts to halt production and leads to layoffs in various production chains”, argues Montenegro. Based on current terminal occupancy rates, he claims that the Santos Docks capacity is already exhausted, a point contested by the Port Authority of Santos (APS).

Protracted discussion The discussion about STS10 has dragged on for years. On July 5, at the inauguration of Parque Valongo, the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, said that he had “started” a debate with the Civil House regarding STS10 “to qualify the area” and “discuss the modeling”.

More than two months later, there is nothing concrete Earlier this month, Costa Filho and the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, were in Santos and had a closed-door meeting with the president of APS, Anderson Pomini, and representatives of port companies at the Port’s administrative headquarters. The meeting was confidential, and the two ministers avoided the press.

On the same date, Costa Filho met with union leaders who were advocating for Ecoporto’s continuation — which employs 2,000 casual dock workers monthly and has 500 permanent employees. In an interview with A Tribuna at the time, the president of the Stevedores Union (Sindestiva), Bruno José dos Santos, stated that the Minister of Ports and Airports assured that the contract with Ecoporto would be extended for two years. Later, in a statement, MPor denied that Costa Filho made such a promise, but the minister did not respond to requests for an interview on the subject.

Port secretary does not clarify situation The bidding model for STS10 is expected to be defined “in the coming days”. This is according to the National Secretary of Ports, Alex Sandro de Ávila, in an interview with A Tribuna . However, the secretary chose not to mention specific dates.

According to Ávila, “the formulation of the terminal bidding model is being studied jointly by the technical teams of the Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor), Civil House, and the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU)”. However, the secretary stated that there is no forecast for the completion of the studies and the definition of the STS10 concession model.

The location is qualified under the Federal Government’s Investment Partnerships Program (PPI). According to the schedule published on the PPI website, the bidding process has been stalled since May 2022, when the public consultation was completed. The next step will be the TCU’s manifestation to proceed with the preparation and launch of the bidding notice.

In August, the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, declared at an event at the Stock Exchange (B3) that the STS10 auction would be held in 2025, but he did not confirm this to A Tribuna .

Originally, the concession contract foresaw an investment of approximately R\$ 3.3 billion and a 25-year term. The bidding criterion was to be the highest grant.

Regarding the Ecoporto Santos multipurpose terminal, which currently occupies an area of 85,000 m² at the site, the secretary preferred not to comment on the negotiations. For the STS10 lease, the exit of the EcoRodovias Group asset will be necessary. Currently, the terminal operates under a temporary contract with the Port Authority of Santos (APS), which has been renewed every six months since June 2023.

Asked about the negotiations related to the expansion of other container terminals on the Right Bank, Ávila also chose not to provide details.