Government plans concessions at Port of Santos
Sep, 25, 2023 Posted by Gabriel MalheirosWeek 202339
The new Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho (Republicans party), plans to unlock three critical projects in the Port of Santos: the construction of the Santos-Guarujá tunnel, the leasing of the STS 10 container terminal, and a partnership with private-sector companies regarding dredging works.
On his first visit to Santos after taking office on Thursday, Minister Costa Filho reiterated his directive not to privatize the port. “It is President Lula’s decision, our decision, made with the entire government, not to privatize the Port of Santos. We will improve governance, bring the private sector closer, and carry out pending infrastructure works,” he said.
“This conversation between the state and the federal government will put the construction of the tunnel collectively and collaboratively,” the new minister said, emphasizing the need to leave political “divisionism” behind. “The time now is to forget the election, forget the divisionism. It’s time for unity to help Brazil, so we must work collectively.”
The tunnel’s construction under the port channel had motivated a dispute between Governor Freitas and the former Ports Minister Márcio França (Brazilian Socialist Party). Early this year, they both said that plans for the tunnel were underway.
Minister Costa Filho also signaled his intention to auction a 20-year contract for the port channel dredging, which should require around R$200 million in investments per year. “We want to speed up this demand, which is increasing. The port needs to have predictability so that, regardless of the government on duty, we have good dredging governance to give operators peace of mind,” he stated.
The minister also announced plans to organize an auction to grant the STS 10 container terminal project, structured in the last government as a “mega terminal” by the Infrastructure Ministry, then headed by Mr. Freitas. However, the tender stirred controversy among interested companies, and under the current government, it was being restructured, possibly with a smaller size.
“It is a crucial project for the development of Santos, which the port authority has planned for a long time. We hope that in around 180 days, we will be able to validate the operation so that, from then on, alongside [water transport regulator] ANTAQ, we can move forward with this project,” the minister said.
Asked about the new concession’s format, the newly-appointed Secretary of Ports, Mariana Pescatori, noted that the modeling is still being studied.
“We are still evaluating this, but the minister has just assumed his seat. We have just received the project to replace the Concais area, the passenger terminal, which impacts the [STS 10] area. We will also evaluate the renovation of Ecoporto, which also affects the area. But we understand the importance of putting STS 10 up for auction,” she said. “We have a model ready considering the entire area, but if we reach a leaner area, we will have the possibility of using Infra S.A. to redo the model and take it to auction,” the secretary added.
At the event, Mr. Costa Filho also announced that he will keep Anderson Pomini at the Santos Port Authority’s (APS) helm. He had been appointed by Mr. França, who left the position after the cabinet reshuffle carried out by President Lula in recent weeks.
See below Port of Santos’ container exports compared to its imports between January 2019 and July 2023. The data is from DataLiner
Container movement at Santos | Jan 2019 – Jul 2023 | TEU
The minister also signed on Thursday three agreements for resuming works of construction of the Guarujá road perimeter, for expanding the port polygon in the Alemoa region, and for building four additional berths to handle fuels.
The construction work on the Guarujá perimeter road was also included in the New PAC, with around R$580 million in investments. Work is expected to begin in early 2024.
The expansion of the port’s polygon by around 400,000 square meters would encompass an area that currently belongs to the Santos municipality in the Alemoa district. According to Mr. Pomini, this expansion still depends on technical analysis and an agreement with the city hall.
Finally, the minister promised four new berths, also in the Alemoa area, where fuel terminals are located. Two of them should be for public use, the head of APS added.
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