Antaq (the National Waterway Transportation Agency) has scheduled the first port auctions of 2024 for May 23. In this first block, six terminals will be leased, which are expected to attract investments of BRL 19 million.
Details of the auction were disclosed in advance to Folha and published in the Federal Official Gazette this Tuesday (2).
Four areas in the Port of Recife, one in Rio de Janeiro and one in the Port of Rio Grande (RS) will be tendered.
The main terminal in this first block is REC08, in the capital of Pernambuco, with BRL 51 million in planned investments. The terminal handles solid vegetable bulk cargo, such as sugar, fertilizers and malt.
The other Port of Recife areas in the auction, REC04, REC09 and REC10, are expected to receive BRL 3.6 million, BRL 2.2 million and BRL 2.9 million in investments, respectively.
The second-largest project in the auction scheduled for May is RDJ06, in Rio de Janeiro, which handles lubricants. The lease provides for more than BRL 22 million in works. At the Port of Rio Grande, terminal RIG10 is expected to receive BRL 7.7 million in investments.
The six assets will be leased under the simplified model, that is, with contracts lasting at most ten years — either five years extendable for another five, or ten years without extension.
The main auctions of 2024, however, are expected in the second half of the year. One of the projects on the list is the tender for the port of Itaguaí (RJ), with almost BRL 3.5 billion in planned investments.
According to the Ministry of Ports and Airports, 16 port projects will be auctioned in 2024, with expected investment of around BRL 6 billion.
Next year, 11 assets will be granted, which should bring about BRL 5 billion into the sector. For 2026, the ministry expects to lease eight terminals, with BRL 1.6 billion in investments.
The tenders for the port of Itajaí (SC) and the Paranaguá (PR) access channel, on the other hand, have been postponed to next year. The two auctions were expected to take place in 2024, but were moved to 2025.
The Itajaí port concession is one of the most eagerly awaited by the sector, as it is expected to be one of the largest in terms of value. Almost BRL 2.9 billion in investments are expected. The project should cover almost the entire operation of the port, including the terminal and the access channel.
The auction of the Paranaguá (PR) access channel is also highly anticipated. It is the country’s first proposed concession of a port access channel, with more than BRL 1 billion in works.
In early March, the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, spoke about the investment portfolio for the port and waterway sector over the next three years. At an event at B3 in São Paulo, the minister said that, by the end of 2026, the ministry will auction 35 port projects.
Between investments in new terminals and concessions, the expectation is to move BRL 14.5 billion.
However, the government’s challenge will be to increase the number of bidders. The last concession of port terminals took place in December 2023 and was marked by the low number of companies competing for the assets. Most of the five ports auctioned at the time attracted a single bidder.
For Luiz Felipe Pinto Lima Graziano, partner at Giamundo Neto Advogados, the absence of fierce competition is not a problem in itself.
“The trend of low competitiveness is historical in the sector’s auctions and is not necessarily a problem. The positioning of players and the volume of investment needed to operate logistics chains explain competitors’ focus on certain assets, which are studied over a long period,” he says.
“The most important thing is for the contracts to be executed, with the guarantee that the expected investments will be made.”
Published by Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese).
