Minister expects Port of Santos privatization draft finalized by the end of July

Marcelo Sampaio, Minister of Infrastructure, said, on June 30th, that the government should send the required studies and the legal notice for the privatization of the Port of Santos to the Federal Cort of Accounts (TCU) by the end of July.

What will be privatized is the management of the port, currently under the charge of Santos Port Authority, formerly known as Companhia Docas de São Paulo (Codesp).

The terminals located in the Port of Santos, where operators handle cargo, are already private.

The minister expects the court to approve the draft within 60 to 70 days, giving the National Waterway Transportation Agency (Antaq) enough time to publish the final notice and hold the auction by the end of the year. Such a process is being conducted at a shorter term than usual, typically 90 to 100 days.

“We have been working to complete the privatization of the Port of Santos until the end of this year, in December 2022. This is our auction forecast,” said Sampaio after going over the actions taken by the ministry during the Bolsonaro government.

See below the track record of container throughput at the Port of Santos from January 2021 to May 2022. The data is from the platform DataLiner by Datamar.

Container throughput at the Port of Santos | Jan 2021 – May 2022 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

The minister acknowledged that the deadline is tight but believes that the TCU will consider the public notice in 60 to 70 days because it has already approved the public notice used in the auction of the ports of Espírito Santo, which will serve as a model for Santos.

The auction of Companhia Docas do Espírito Santo (Codesa) was held in March, the first port privatization in the history of Brazil.

“We are counting on the TCU granting the necessary approval in 60 to 70 days, allowing the auction to be held this year after the opening of the public notice now at the end of the second semester,” he said.

The Port of Santos auction is the most awaited by players in the port sector. It is the largest in Latin America.

Source: G1

To read the full original article, please go to: https://g1.globo.com/economia/noticia/2022/06/30/ministro-preve-enviar-edital-de-privatizacao-do-porto-de-santos-ao-tcu-ate-o-fim-julho.ghtml

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