Antaq approves process of privatization of Port of Santos

The National Waterway Transport Agency (Antaq) approved, this Monday (12), the privatization process of the Port of Santos.

The endorsement was signed by the body’s director general, Eduardo Nery, and will still be endorsed by the Antaq collegiate. However, the proposal may now go to the Ministry of Infrastructure. It is the department that will present the project to the Federal Audit Court (TCU), which needs to endorse the model.

Other rites must still be completed beforehand, involving the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and the Investment Partnerships Program (PPI).

Although, recently, the Minister of Infrastructure, Marcelo Sampaio, has stated that the concession period for the port had passed to 50 years, the documentation approved by Antaq, according to the agency, provides for a contract stipulated in 35 years, with the possibility of to be extended by five more, as initially projected. The extension of the deadline, according to sources, could further delay the process of privatization of the Port, as it would require changes to the project.

The port will be auctioned on the basis of the highest grant value, stipulated by Antaq at R$ 3.015 billion. The modeling also foresees BRL 6.3 billion in new investments, of which BRL 2.1 billion will be allocated to port infrastructure and BRL 4.2 billion for the construction of the dry tunnel that will connect Santos and Guarujá.

as anticipated the broadcast, the responsibility for the tunnel project will be with the port concessionaire. Despite the mandatory values ​​being estimated at R$ 6.3 billion, the government has stated that privatization should generate a volume of R$ 18 billion.

The Ministry of Infrastructure still believes it is possible to auction Santos in 2022, the last year of Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) term, who is seeking reelection. as showed the broadcastthe project may have a faster process in the TCU, compared to other privatization processes, but the time taken by the government to send the proposal to the Court put the realization of the event in 2022 at a level considered of low feasibility.

According to the Port of Santos Development and Zoning Plan (PDZ), presented in 2020, by 2040, there is a prospect of growth of almost 50% in the total capacity of the port and 58% in the demand met, compared to 2020 .

It is also estimated an increase in handling from 45 Mton to 86 Mton in the rail modal and from 73.3 Mton to 101 Mton, for the same period.