Brazil holds year’s 1st port terminals auction with plans for more action

The Brazilian government auctioned five leasing contracts for port terminals and plans more offers in the coming months.

The contracts that went under the hammer in Wednesday’s auction were REC08, REC09 and REC10 in Recife, capital of Pernambuco state; RDJ06 in Rio de Janeiro; and RIG10 at Rio Grande port, in Rio Grande do Sul state.

The total required investments for the 10-year contracts amount to 74 million reais (US$15mn).

The government is planning to offer more contracts this year, involving larger investments, a spokesperson for waterways regulator Antaq confirmed to BNamericas at the auction.

Two terminals linked to grains transportation, the PAR14 and PAR15 at Paranaguá port in Paraná state, are expected to generate combined investments of 1.8 billion reais. 

The other two that will be auctioned are solid vegetable bulk terminal VDC29 at Vila de Conde, in Pará state, and container terminal MUC04 in Fortaleza, Ceará state.

They will demand estimated investments of 716mn reais and 361mn reais, respectively.

AUCTION DETAILS

The contracts auctioned on Wednesday were the first for the sector in 2024. In previous years, Brazil has offered a series of leasing contracts for port terminals as a way to attract investments from private firms.

The government raised a total of 4.75mn reais in fees from the auction.

Liquiport Terminal Portuario was the sole bidder for REC08, a terminal that will handle vegetable bulk and demand an investment of 51mn reais. The firm offered the government a fee of 50,000 reais for the contract.

Sugarcane mill operator Usina Petribu won the contract for REC09 with a fee of 550,000 reais, versus the 520,000 reais offered by SCS Armazens Gerais. The terminal will handle solid bulk and general cargo, and require investments of 2.2mn reais.

SCS Armazens offered a fee of 3.6mn reais for REC10, beating Agemar Transportes e Empreendimentos’ bid of 3.5mn reais. This terminal will also handle solid bulk and general cargo, and will demand 3mn reais in investments.

Sagres Operacoes Portuarias was the sole bidder for the general cargo-focused RIG10. It offered a fee of 50,000 reais and will invest 7.8mn reais in the terminal.

Also attracting a single bid, the RDJ06 went to Iconic Lubrificantes, with a fee of 500,000 reais. The liquid bulk-focused terminal will require investments worth 10mn reais.