Auction for terminal in Santos draws interest from ten companies, says ministry

Tecon Santos 10 will be the largest container terminal in Brazil. It will cover 621.9 thousand square meters, with a capacity of 3.25 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) per year, in addition to 91 thousand tons of general cargo. The investment amounts to R\$ 6.45 billion (Alexsander Ferraz/AT)

At least ten companies have shown interest in the auction for the Santos 10 Container Terminal (Tecon), located at the Saboó quay (STS10) in the Port of Santos. The figure was provided by Bruno Neri da Silva, Director of the Department of New Grants and Port Regulatory Policies at the Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor). His remarks were made this Wednesday (13), during a public hearing held by the Economic Development Committee of the Chamber of Deputies in Brasília, addressing the competition restrictions imposed by the National Agency for Waterway Transportation (Antaq) on the bidding process.

"From the Ministry’s side, we’ve received numerous companies, at least ten showing interest (even with the restrictions). It’s going to be a competitive process. These are companies with investment capacity, and we’re not concerned about that. We have to make a decision: to carry out the auction with or without restrictions so that the Port of Santos can increase its capacity", Neri stated, commenting on a potential decrease in competitiveness due to the exclusion of large companies.

The auction model foresees two phases. In the first, operators that already have container terminals in Santos are prohibited from participating, including giants such as DP World, CMA CGM (Santos Brasil), MSC, and Maersk (the latter two share ownership of the BTP terminal). A second phase, open to all, will only take place if there are no interested parties in the first.

"The Agency made a technical decision that we consider legitimate, within its competencies. This is not the first nor the last auction where participation restrictions are applied. Several others have included such measures", Neri recalled, citing ITG02, in Itaguaí (RJ), whose concession contract was signed in February. In that case, the restrictive clause was removed following a decision by the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU).

The Tecon Santos project is currently under review by the Court of Accounts. On July 29, a three-hour panel was held in Brasília with representatives from both the public and private sectors. On that occasion, opinions were heard from both supporters of the restricted auction and advocates of broad competition — the latter being the majority at the meeting.

"If the TCU decides that the restriction is not applicable, we will comply accordingly", the director assured. "The process will likely go up for plenary analysis by the end of August, with the expectation that the auction will take place in December", he added.

Ygor Di Paula, Special Secretary for Bids and Concessions at Antaq, argued that allowing new companies into the sector could benefit port operations. "It’s more important to ensure competition and competitiveness over the 25-year term of the contract than to focus solely on the short-term outcome of the auction. The entry of new players creates greater competitive pressure in the market, increasing efficiency and reducing costs for users. Additionally, we are preserving the participation of current players. Antaq is not for or against any specific agent — it is in favor of competition, users, the port sector, and Brazil."

Legal action and football analogies During the public hearing at the Economic Development Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, convened by federal deputy Julio Lopes (PP-RJ), the majority of attendees opposed the restrictions imposed on the auction — including the congressman himself.

Eduardo Heron, Technical Director of the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council (Cecafé), highlighted the harm caused to his and other sectors, despite record performance. "It’s a chaotic scenario. We don’t want to believe that institutions are capable of creating theories to lead, without apparent cause, to judicialization. It makes no sense to exclude those who already invest in Brazil from the game", he said. Maersk filed a lawsuit against Antaq requesting the suspension of the bidding process and the holding of a new public hearing to clarify the tender document, but the request was unsuccessful.

Patricio Junior, Director of Terminal Investments at Terminal Investment Limited (TiL) — a company of the MSC Group — used a football analogy to comment on the competitiveness mentioned by Bruno Neri. "Imagine the Brazilian Championship without Botafogo, Flamengo, and Palmeiras. There would still be competition, but quantity isn’t everything — quality matters."