Future of 600,000-Square-Meter Port Area in Santos Remains Uncertain Amid Ongoing Government Deliberations

The Federal Government maintains suspense around the STS10 area, initially designated for a large container terminal at the Saboó quay. The Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor) does not provide specific information about discussions involving the space.

The area, which spans over 600,000 square meters, currently houses only the multipurpose terminal Ecoporto, whose lease has expired and has been temporarily extended until December. Following contradictions, MPor has not indicated whether the contract will be renewed.

There is still an agreement among Municipal, State, and Federal governments that STS10 should host the Concais cruise terminal, which is to be relocated from Outeirinhos.

Meanwhile, giants in the container sector are pushing for a super terminal in the area to increase the Port of Santos’s capacity.
The chart below compares container exports and imports recorded at Santos between January 2021 and July 2024. The data was sourced from DataLiner, Datamar’s maritime data platform.

Container Exports and Imports | Port of Santos | Jan 2021 – Jul 2024 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

“STS10 is urgent. It can accommodate the cruise terminal, but keeping Ecoporto there is impossible. A terminal the size of STS10 would represent around R$ 500 million in taxes and duties collected annually by the Port of Santos,” emphasizes port consultant and A Tribuna columnist Luis Cláudio Montenegro. According to him, containers are a global priority due to their “widespread impact” on the economy.

“If we reach a bottleneck situation like Santos is facing now, production starts to halt, leading to layoffs in various production chains,” argues Montenegro. Based on current terminal occupancy rates, he claims that the Santista quay’s capacity is already exhausted, a point disputed by the Port Authority of Santos (APS).

Protracted
The discussion about STS10 has dragged on for years. On July 5, during the inauguration of Parque Valongo, Ports and Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho mentioned he had “initiated” a discussion with the Civil House about STS10 “to qualify the area” and “discuss the model.” Over two months later, there is still nothing concrete.

Earlier this month, Costa Filho and Civil House Minister Rui Costa visited Santos and held a confidential meeting at the port’s administrative headquarters with APS President Anderson Pomini and port company representatives. The ministers avoided the press.

On the same day, Costa Filho met with union leaders who were advocating for the continuation of Ecoporto—employing 2,000 dock workers monthly and having 500 permanent workers. In an interview with A Tribuna, the president of the Stevedores’ Union (Sindestiva), Bruno José dos Santos, stated that the Ports and Airports Minister assured him that Ecoporto’s contract would be extended for two years. Later, MPor denied that Costa Filho made such a promise, but the minister did not respond to requests for an interview. The Ports Secretary did not clarify the situation in an interview.

The bidding model for STS10 is expected to be defined “in the coming days,” according to National Ports Secretary Alex Sandro de Ávila in an interview with A Tribuna. However, the secretary did not provide specific dates.

According to Ávila, “the terminal bidding model is being studied jointly by the technical teams of the Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor), the Civil House, and the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU).” However, the secretary stated that there is no forecast for the conclusion of studies and the definition of the STS10 concession model.

The location is qualified under the Federal Government’s Investment Partnerships Program (PPI). According to the schedule published on the PPI website, the bidding process has been stalled since May 2022, when the public consultation was completed. The next step will be the TCU’s review to proceed with the preparation and launch of the tender.

In August, Ports and Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho stated at an event at the São Paulo Stock Exchange (B3) that the STS10 auction would be held in 2025, but he did not confirm this to A Tribuna.
Initially, the concession contract was expected to involve an investment of approximately R$ 3.3 billion and a 25-year term. The bidding criterion would be based on the highest grant.

The secretary preferred not to comment on the negotiations regarding the Ecoporto Santos multipurpose terminal, which currently occupies an area of 85,000 square meters. The leasing of STS10 will require the departure of the EcoRodovias Group asset. The terminal operates under a temporary contract with the Port Authority of Santos (APS), which has been renewed every six months since June 2023.

Asked about the developments related to expanding other container terminals on the Right Bank, Ávila also chose not to provide details.

Source: A Tribuna
Click here to read the original text: https://www.atribuna.com.br/noticias/portomar/area-com-mais-de-600-mil-metros-quadrados-no-porto-de-santos-segue-com-futuro-indefinido-1.434126

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