New ports minister eyes changes to current Port of Santos administration

Announced as the new Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho scheduled a meeting with the current minister, Márcio França, to kickstart the transition process. The meeting is set to take place this Tuesday (9/12) in Brasília.

Even before the conversation, Costa Filho has hinted behind the scenes that he intends to change the leadership of one of the state-owned companies that França is most interested in: the Port of Santos on the São Paulo coast. However, the new minister has refrained from disclosing any names for the position.

The chart that follows gives further details on exports and imports in containers at the Port of Santos between January 2019 and July 2023. The data used below was gathered by Datamar using the DataLiner maritime intelligence tool.

Exports & imports at Port of Santos | Jan 2019 – July 2023 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Costa Filho has stated that the commitment from the President’s Office was that his party, known as Republicanos would take over the ministry with a “closed door.” In other words, they can replace almost all the key positions within the department that were previously under the control of França.

According to sources involved in the negotiations, the exception would be some Port Authorities in the states. In these cases, the new administration will need to coordinate with other parties.

Silvinho, as the new ports minister is known, is from the same party as the Governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas. As an opponent of the Lula government, the governor advocates for privatizing the Port of Santos. However, the Presidency has already made it clear that this won’t be allowed.

Source: Metropoles

To read the original news report, visit: https://www.metropoles.com/colunas/igor-gadelha/novo-ministro-reuniao-franca-porto-santos

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