New Santos Port Container Terminal Project Gets Green Light After Years of Delays

After five years of delays and criticism from cargo operators, the long-awaited project for a new container terminal at the Port of Santos, Brazil, is finally moving forward. The Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor) announced that it has decided to proceed with plans to auction the area within the port for the construction of the terminal by private investors.

According to information obtained by Estadão, MPor has submitted a directive to Infra S/A (formerly Denit) with guidelines for the concession of the area. These guidelines include modifications to the original proposal made in 2019 for the project in the Saboó region. In 2022, the project—known as STS10—was tied to the privatization plan for the Port of Santos, a plan that was scrapped by the current federal government, which took office in January 2023.

The revised plan, developed by Infra S/A, aims to significantly expand Santos’ container handling capacity. Currently, the port is home to terminals operated by Santos Brasil, BTP, DPW, and Ecoporto. MPor stated that several alternatives for the STS10 concession were considered, and the new studies also include a passenger terminal.

The approved model, created in coordination with the Chief of Staff Office, calls for the construction of four new berths, increasing the port’s container handling capacity by 50%. Today, the Port of Santos processes around 6 million TEUs annually, a number expected to rise to 9 million units under the new plan. The original STS10 proposal featured three berths with an annual handling capacity of 2.3 million TEUs.

The chart below reveals the performance of container exports and imports at the Port of Santos between January 2022 and August 2024, measured in Twenty-Foot-Equivalent Units (TEUs). The information comes from DataLiner, a Datamar-developed product.

Santos Container Exports & Imports | Jan 2022 – Aug 2024 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

In a declaration to Estadão, Minister Sílvio Costa Filho emphasized that the updated project was developed after thorough analysis to identify the best solution for the Port of Santos. “The original model was designed with the privatization of the Port of Santos in mind, which has since been abandoned by President Lula’s administration,” Filho explained.

The expansion of the import-export capacity of Brazil’s largest port, according to the minister, will improve operations and boost the competitiveness of exported products. Costa Filho added that the proposal aligns with the federal government’s current development model.

Project Delays and Pushback

The postponement of the STS10 project has drawn criticism from various quarters. Users of the Port of Santos and business associations have called for the project’s auction to move forward. Alongside organizations such as the National Transatlantic Navigation Center (Centronave) and the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council (Cecafé), the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp) also pressed for action to resolve the situation.

In November of last year, Fiesp President Josué Gomes da Silva sent a letter to Ministers Silvio Costa Filho and Rui Costa of the Civil House, highlighting the port’s strained capacity, which had reached 93% utilization.

The auction for the STS10 terminal has been stalled since 2022. It will be up to the Santos Port Authority (APS)—formerly Codesp, which is linked to MPor—to restart the process.

A report by Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), released in July, called for the auction to be resumed within 30 days. MPor officials met with TCU and Chief of Staff representatives, explaining that they could not meet the deadline due to the need to revise the project for STS10.

The ministry expects the updated study for the new container terminal at Santos to be submitted for TCU review later this year, once internal reviews and analyses by Infra S/A are completed. The auction is expected to take place in 2025.

MPor also stated that further discussions will be held with Infra S/A and other stakeholders to determine the best operational model for the new passenger terminal. The terminal, which will also be located in the Saboó region, currently serves around 1 million cruise passengers annually. The ministry assured that the new passenger terminal will not interfere with container terminal operations.

Source: O Estado de S. Paulo

Click here to read the original reporting: https://www.estadao.com.br/economia/novo-terminal-porto-de-santos-leilao/

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