Santos privatization should generate R$ 10 billion of investments

The privatization of the Port of Santos should generate investments in the order of R$ 10 billion, according to Diogo Piloni, national secretary for ports and waterway transport. The modeling has not yet been completed, but the forecast is that the resources will be allocated to deepening the draft, dredging services, land access, the construction of the Santos-Guarujá tunnel, among other works and services. The new operator is expected to take control of the Santos Port Authority (SPA, formerly CODESP), the state-owned company that manages the public port.

See the graph below for cargo movement at the Port of Santos from 2018 on:

Imports and Exports at Port of Santos | Jan 2018 to June 2021 | WTMT

Graph source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

The first version of the project should be presented between November and December. The idea is to open the public consultation this year, to complete this step by the first quarter of 2022.

“Studies are evolving a lot. It is a much more complex model than the privatization of Companhia Docas do Espírito Santos (CODESA). In Santos, there must be more restrictive regulation and greater care with tariffs. We must make use of a model that is very careful at this point”, said Piloni.

CODESA’s privatization process is more advanced than that of SPA, but the notice has not yet been published. Since it will be the first privatization of a port authority, the federal government decided to start with a smaller dock company, as a “pilot” for the Santos process, which should be much more complicated.

Discussions in Espírito Santo have already generated some concerns among companies in the port sector that fear that the new dock company, once privatized, will have excessive freedom to impose contractual conditions, such as tariff adjustments and even disruptions. The Ministry of Infrastructure has emphasized that the idea is to guarantee the legal security of existing contracts and has sought to address the criticisms presented. Despite the questions, companies operating in ports, in general, have supported the idea of ​​privatization.

Source: Valor Econômico

To read the full original article, visit the link:

https://valor.globo.com/empresas/noticia/2021/08/13/desestatizacao-do-porto-de-santos-deve-gerar-investimentos-de-r-10-bilhoes.ghtml

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