Brazil gov’t prepares round of port auctions

The federal government is preparing a new round of port auctions to be held between April and early May, according to Roberto Gusmão, executive secretary of the Ministry of Ports and Airports. He did not confirm which assets would be auctioned but confirmed the idea is to have many of them put up for bids.

“We will have several auctions, mainly for ports in the Northeast. We have terminals in Maceió, Mucuripe [in Ceará]. We believe that by April and, at most, May, we will be able to launch a new round of port auctions. In addition, we have some TUPs contracts [Private Use Terminals], which need a different model. We are also doing this,” he said.

The secretary spoke after the auction of the PAR50 terminal in the Port of Paranaguá (PR), intended for moving liquid bulk cargo. The event was held on Friday (24th), at the headquarters of B3, in São Paulo.

In addition to the PAR50, a second terminal in Paranaguá, the PAR09, aimed at moving solid vegetable bulk, would be auctioned. The lease required investments of R$911 million. However, no bids were received for the asset, and therefore the tender was put off.

According to Gusmão, one of the goals of the new auction round, expected in April, is to make leasing this terminal in Paraná possible.

In addition, the general director of Antaq (National Waterway Transportation Agency), Eduardo Nery, pointed out that other projects at an advanced stage may be included in the new round, such as a liquid bulk terminal in Maceió, which will be appreciated by the agency, and other projects under simplified analysis at the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU), such as terminals in Porto Alegre that handle solid bulk and general cargo. “A joint effort will be made to release these terminals for bidding, and we will have an interesting group later in this half of the year,” he said.

Questioned about the Port of Santos privatization, Gusmão stated that the government is still to make a decision. “The decision is up to Minister Márcio França and President Lula,” he said. “It is not breaking news that, as a government, we have a different understanding regarding privatizations. We understand that a strong port authority is able to play its role as a development agent and attract private investment.”

The PAR50 auction, held on Friday, had only one interested party: FTS Participações, from the Fortesolo group, which offered a grant of R$ 1 million for the asset. The lease provides for investments of R$ 338.2 million in the contract, which will last for 25 years.

The group had already won the contract, in March 2022, for another terminal in Paranaguá, the PAR32, dedicated to general cargo, mainly bagged sugar. In addition, the company also operates in the port transporting fertilizers.

According to Alex vila, institutional director of FTS Participaçes, winning port auctions is part of the company’s diversification strategy, which will begin operating in the liquid bulk sector with the new contract. “We want to expand our client portfolio and our options in the port.”

The executive emphasizes that several steps must be completed before the contract can be signed. The auction was the target of eight judicial actions that failed to stop the tender. The inquiries came from the state’s sugar and alcohol industries.

Source: Valor Econômico

To read the original news report, visit: https://valor.globo.com/empresas/noticia/2023/02/26/uniao-prepara-rodada-de-leiloes-portuarios.ghtml?li_source=LI&li_medium=news-page-widget

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