Auction of STS 10 faces possible delay amid Federal Government deadlock

The auction of the STS 10 container terminal, located at the Saboó quay in the Port of Santos, may be postponed amid an internal deadlock within Brazil’s federal government, casting uncertainty over the project’s timetable.

Ports and Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho said three weeks ago that the auction of the terminal would take place by April. That schedule is now unlikely to be met.

According to reporting by A Tribuna, Costa Filho asked the technical staff of the Ministry of Ports and Airports to push the auction back to May. Since then, however, disagreements over the mega-terminal have emerged within the government, creating uncertainty over when the tender will move forward.

On Monday, Costa Filho was summoned to a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Chief of Staff Rui Costa. The agenda was not disclosed, but Tecon Santos 10 was at the center of the discussion.

The decision to bar shipping lines from participating in the auction — a recommendation from Brazil’s federal audit court, the Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU), which the ministry has said it will follow — has displeased COSCO Shipping, which has expressed interest in the asset. The carrier is controlled by the Chinese government, Brazil’s main trading partner.

Amid negotiations over his replacement at the ministry — as Costa Filho must step down by April to run for the Senate — the minister has been called in to address the impasse. On Wednesday (4), he met with TCU justices who last year disagreed over the proposed bidding model during their review of the project. In addition to shipping lines, the TCU also barred companies that already operate container terminals in Santos from taking part in the auction.

The bidding model will be detailed in the tender notice, which has yet to be released. The ministry declined to comment.

The terminal is planned to occupy an area of 621,900 square meters, with capacity to handle 3.25 million TEUs and 91,000 tonnes of general cargo per year. The concession term is 25 years and is expected to require investments of R$6.45 billion.

The chart below provides an overview of containerized exports and imports (measured in TEUs) at the Port of Santos, featuring Datamar data.

Port of Santos | Exports x Imports | Jan 2022 – Nov 2025 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

For Claudio Loureiro, executive director of Centronave, a pause in the auction timetable would be positive. He argues that, following a reassessment by the federal government and the TCU, the preferred option should be an open and competitive tender.

“Our member companies are accustomed to risk and are equipped to deal with it,” Loureiro said. “In a free competition, the tendency would be to offer strong concession fees, because there is confidence in what they know and know how to operate.”

Loureiro added that the companies do not oppose regulatory requirements. “They would adhere to whatever regulatory rules the government set. The problem today is capacity: we need to expand the Port of Santos’ infrastructure,” he said.

The TCU did not respond to questions by the time of publication.

The president of the Santos Port Authority (APS), Anderson Pomini, was also contacted by A Tribuna reporters, but could not be reached.

Fonte: A Tribuna

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