Santos Port road expansion advances with federal land concession in Guarujá

Nine federal maritime areas, totaling approximately 59,500 square meters, will be used for the expansion of the Left Bank Perimeter Avenue at the Port of Santos in Guarujá. The plots are located on both sides of the Cônego Domênico Rangoni Highway (SP-055), in Vicente de Carvalho, near a newly opened wholesale store.

The Secretariat of Federal Assets (SPU), part of the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services, authorized the special-use concession of these areas to the port authority through an ordinance signed on July 4 and published in the Federal Register on July 15.

The sites are designated exclusively for the layout of the second phase of the Perimeter Avenue. The concession period will last 20 years from the date of contract signing, with the possibility of renewal for equal and successive periods, if mutually agreed upon. The ordinance sets a 12-month deadline for the commencement of construction, measured from the date of contract signing. If the property is abandoned without prior notice, a fine equivalent to 10% of the property’s assessed value will be imposed.

At the discretion of the federal government, all improvements made on the land will become federal property at the end or termination of the contract, without compensation to the concessionaire. The Santos Port Authority (APS) will be responsible for any expropriations, compensations, and land or registry regularizations.

The contract signing is conditional upon the prior acquisition of all necessary environmental licenses and permits, as well as the required authorizations and approvals for project implementation. APS must appear at the SPU office in São Paulo within 30 days to sign the contract, or the ordinance will be revoked.

See below a historical overview of container throughput at the Port of Santos starting from January 2022. The chart was created using DataLiner data:

Container Throughput at the Port of Santos | Jan 2022 to May 2025 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (Click here to request a demo)

Construction Plans

APS has not yet decided whether it will directly undertake the construction of Perimeter Avenue through a public tender or transfer responsibility to a port operator on the Left Bank under a separate agreement. “Both alternatives remain under evaluation,” the Port of Santos stated in a release.

“The basic project is currently being drafted under contract by the Port Authority, with active participation from APS’s technical team and support from the Guarujá City Hall, which has already approved the conceptual design. The goal is to ensure an efficient, safe, and regionally appropriate road solution,” the federal company emphasized.

Significance

APS highlighted the importance of the land concession, noting that it represents a significant step forward and includes plots directly aligned with the planned road layout.

“Most of these areas are unoccupied. In the few cases where families are living in precarious conditions, APS has already begun discussions to ensure responsible and legally compliant relocation,” the authority added.

Completion of Perimeter Avenue represents a federal investment of R$800 million and will enable expansion of the Left Bank of the port in coordination with the planned Santos-Guarujá tunnel, explained APS president Anderson Pomini.

“It will offer safer access for truck drivers entering the terminals, who have relied for decades on Rua do Adubo, a road that has caused traffic issues for Guarujá residents. We are working in full cooperation with the City Hall on this project,” he said.

Source: A Tribuna