Brazil successfully completes auction of port terminals

The Brazilian government raised 148.5 million reais (about $37.5 million) on Tuesday from auctions of terminals on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, officials said.

The auction included facilities in two of the largest ports in Brazil and Latin America.

The government expects that the terminals in the ports of Santos, in Sao Paulo state, and Paranagua, located in the southern state of Parana, will receive investment totaling 417 million reais (some $105 million) over the next 25 years, the length of the concessions granted to the winning bidders.

Two of the terminals are in Santos, the largest port in Brazil and Latin America, and are used to warehouse and transfer fuel products, fertilizers and salt.

The third terminal is in Paranagua, considered the main port for Brazil’s agricultural industry. The facility also handles general cargo, especially paper products and cellulose.

The first terminal auctioned off sprawls over 29,300 sq. meters (314,969 sq. feet) in the port of Santos and drew a winning bid of 112.5 million reais (about $28 million) from Hidrovias do Brasil, which received the right to manage the facility for 25 years to store and transport salt and fertilizers.

Hidrovias do Brasil, Aba Infraestructura and TRH Consortium all submitted bids for the terminal.

In its initial bid, Hidrovias offered 65 million reais (about $16.4 million) and ended up beating out TRH Consortium by 500,000 reais (about $126,262).

The federal government projects that the terminal will receive approximately 219.3 million reais (about $55 million) in investment.

The winning bid on the second terminal in Santos was 35 million reais (about $8.8 million) by Aba Infraestrutura, the sole certified bidder after Empresa Brasileña de Terminales was ruled ineligible because it already had other assets in the same port zone.

Aba Infraestructura won the right to manage a 38,400 sq. meter (412,792 sq. foot) terminal for 25 years.

The government estimates that the terminal, which handles chemicals and fuel products, will receive about 110.7 million reais (about $27.9 million) in investment.

The rights to the third port zone, which covers 27,500 sq. meters (295,619 sq. feet) in the port of Paranagua, were won at auction by Klabin S.A. for 1 million reais (about $252,525).

The terminal in Paranagua mainly handles general cargo, especially paper products and cellulose.

The government estimates that the terminal will get some 87 million reais (about $21.9 million) in investment.

Of the funds raised by the auction, some 37.12 million reais (about $9.6 million) will be paid when the contracts are signed.

Under the terms of the auction, the contracts must be inked within 120 days, the Infrastructure Ministry, which coordinated the auctions, said.

The winning bidders must pay the remaining funds in five annual installments, the ministry said.

This was the third auction of port facilities conducted by the government this year.

In April, the government received $113 million from the auction of the rights operate to six terminals in the Amazonian state of Para.

On March 22, an auction of the rights to operate four terminals in the southeast state of Espirito Santo and the northeast state of Paraiba raised $60 million.

President Jair Bolsonaro, who took office on Jan. 1, has made privatizations, especially of ports and airports, a priority. EFE

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