Brazil's Presidential Chief of Staff Office has instructed the Ports Ministry to remove restrictions on shipping lines participating in the auction for the new STS 10 container terminal at the Port of Santos in São Paulo state.
The decision was outlined in a technical note issued by the Investment Partnerships Program, linked to the Presidential Chief of Staff Office. The updated auction guidelines will now be forwarded to Brazil's waterway transport regulator, ANTAQ.
The changes also allow current terminal operators at the port, including MSC and Maersk, to participate in the bidding process, provided they sell their existing assets if they win the concession.
Under the revised terms, the minimum concession fee has increased from 500 million reais to 1.044 billion reais (US$182.4 million).
© Dataliner
STS 10 is expected to require investments of more than 6 billion reais (US$1.05 billion) and increase container handling capacity at the Port of Santos by 50%.
Participation by shipping lines had previously been restricted following concerns raised by Brazil's federal audit court over vertical integration risks involving shipping services and terminal operations.
According to the technical note, "Besides not identifying competition-related reasons to prohibit the participation of shipping lines in the auction, ANTAQ did not point to any regulatory justification for adopting such a restriction. On the contrary, it concluded that such participation could result in productive, allocative, and social inefficiencies."
Shipping companies, including Cosco, MSC, and Maersk, had supported broader access to the auction process. CMP, owner of the Paranaguá Container Terminal, also raised concerns regarding earlier restrictions.
The auction had initially been planned for late 2025 but was delayed because of disagreements over the auction model. The process is now expected to take place in the second half of 2026, although further delays into 2027 remain possible.
Companies, including ICTSI and JBS, had supported a two-phase auction structure in which current operators would only participate if no bids were received during an initial round.
The new technical note stated that "it is important to clarify that the federal government does not have a policy of encouraging new entrants to the detriment of existing operators."
Current operators will now be allowed to participate, provided they have "filed with the competent authorities the irrevocable and irreversible sale" of their equity stakes in other Santos terminals before signing a new contract.
According to the document, broader participation could increase competition and improve operational efficiency within Brazil's logistics sector.
Source: CNN Infra / DatamarNews
