Brazil’s Private Partnership Program to Speed Up Key Works at Port of Santos

Projects qualified under the Federal Government’s Investment Partnership Program (PPI) are gaining priority and expedited processes. At the Port of Santos, the PPI could boost the Santos-Guarujá underwater tunnel and the lease of STS53, an area designated for bulk mineral handling. Both projects are crucial for the future of the Santos logistics complex and are expected to benefit from the federal program. The PPI facilitates public-private partnerships (PPPs) and is seen as a development-inducing tool.

Operating on these principles, the program contributes to the implementation of partnerships between the public sector and private enterprises, providing legal certainty and returns through long-term contracts and ensuring the economic and financial balance of concessionaire companies.

According to the Ministry of Ports and Airports (Mpor), Resolution 213 of the Investment Partnerships Program Council (CPPI), dated December 16, 2021, and Decree 11,025, dated March 31, 2022, qualify studies for the implementation and operation of the dry connection between Santos and Guarujá. This will result in a tunnel connecting both sides of the Port of Santos.

The highly anticipated project will be made possible through joint efforts by the federal and state governments, each contributing R$ 5.8 billion (with responsibility split equally). The project is expected to materialize through a PPP. Recently, the President of the Santos Port Authority (APS), Anderson Pomini, stated that the bidding for the dry connection is expected to be launched later this year, with construction commencing between 2024 and 2025 and completion by 2028 and 2029.

Ivam Jardim, port consultant at Porto Consultoria Agency, explained that the PPI “expedites the progress of processes, standardizes, and improves interaction with oversight bodies, such as the Federal Audit Court (TCU), during the pre-publication analysis. Another crucial function of the program is to bridge the gap with the private sector through roadshows, assessing the market attractiveness of these projects before launching them through bids and auctions.”

A significant auction for the Port of Santos is the lease of the STS53 area, which is currently going through a public consultation phase. STS53 involves an area of 87,981 m² in the Outeirinhos neighborhood, with a proposed lease term of 25 years and an estimated investment of R$ 658.8 million for storing and handling minerals in bulk. The process involves the National Waterway Transportation Agency (Antaq), the Special Secretariat for Investment Partnership Programs (SPPI), Infra SA, and Mpor.

“All port auctions have been classified as priorities in the PPI program. This strategy and methodology have been practiced from the beginning to seek this cross-sectional integration and agility in analyzing processes for a quick auction publication to the market. Subsequently, after a company wins the auction, during the project analysis phase, it can appeal to this priority with licensing bodies to assist in meeting the deadlines required by the contract,” explained Jardim.

Source: A Tribuna

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