Government sees risk of judicialization in 12 port auctions

The billion-dollar portfolio of port concessions in the Lula government’s schedule includes a dozen projects that are at risk of ending up in court, either due to the rules included in the auctions or due to specific questions regarding each project.

On this list is the Tecon Santos 10 mega container terminal, designed for the Port of Santos (SP).
The judicialization risk survey was prepared by the National Waterway Transport Agency (Antaq), based on information requested by the Attorney General’s Office (AGU). The body that acts in defense of the federal government seeks to anticipate possible legal disputes involving tenders considered most important in each sector.

The most sensitive projects involve 12 large cargo terminals, access channel concessions and port leases in different regions of the country. Tecon Santos 10, scheduled to be installed in the Saboó region, on the right bank of the port of Santosis the most targeted.

Planned to move and store containers and general cargo in an area of ​​622 thousand square meters, Tecon Santos 10 does not yet have a set date for its auction. Companies in the port sector already admit the possibility that the bidding will no longer take place in 2026, given the successive changes in dates announced by the government.

Since last year, several predictions have been cited for the launch of the notice or the holding of the competition, between the second half of 2025 and this year.

The Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, recently said that the auction should take place “throughout the year” and that he intends to meet with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to define the final schedule for the project. The statement was received with caution by port operators interested in the terminal.

The calendar changes involve the government’s internal disagreements over the bidding model. MPor and Antaq want a two-phase format, in which shipowners who are already in Santos would not participate in the first round. The Civil House, as well as the TCU, defend a model without restrictions on the participation of operators. The topic also involves pressure from international giants interested in the project.

The list of potential targets for judicialization prepared by Antaq includes, in the North of the country, the MCP01 terminal, in the Port of Santana (AP), and the IQI16 project, in the Port of Itaqui (MA).

In the Northeast, the NAT01 projects appear, in Porto de Natal (RN); TMP Recife, in the Port of Recife (PE); MUC04, in the Port of Fortaleza (CE); and SUA01, in the Port of Suape (PE).

The list includes SSD-A3, in the Port of Salvador (BA), and projects in the South and Southeast, such as POA26, in the Port of Porto Alegre (RS), ITJ01, in the Port of Itajaí (SC), the SSB01 lease, in the Port of São Sebastião (SP), and the concession of the access channel to the Port of Itajaí.

The list was requested by AGU in January and responded to by Antaq last week. During this period, some terminals have already started to be auctioned on the market. In February, the federal government held an auction for three terminals at B3, in São Paulo: MCP01, POA26 and NAT01.

The result was low competition. The MCP01 terminal, in the Port of Santana, was purchased by the company CS Infra for the symbolic bid of R$2, the only one presented, because what the asset provides are investments estimated at R$150.2 million, in a 25-year contract.

Days before the auction, a decision by the 4th Federal Civil Court of the Judiciary Section of the Federal District suspended the auction following a lawsuit filed by the company Rocha Granéis, which operates in the port. Antaq appealed and managed to reverse the injunction, allowing the auction to be held.

Another project on the list put up for auction was POA26, in the Port of Porto Alegre, leased for R$10,000 to Consórcio Portos do Sul, formed by the companies Soluções Inteligentes Operadores Portuários and Simetria Logística. The terminal foresees around R$21 million in investments and a ten-year contract.

NAT01 was also auctioned, in the Port of Natal, acquired by the company Fomento do Brasil with a bid of R$50 thousand. The terminal is expected to cost R$55.17 million in investments and has a 25-year contract.

A fourth project, TMP Recife, should have been auctioned in the same session, but ended up being removed from the dispute. The local port authority itself requested the suspension to review the project’s technical information.

In the area of ​​waterways, MPor has already had to give up the schedule that foresees the provision of five federal rivers, following demonstrations by indigenous peoples against the concession of rivers in the Amazon region.

The postponements represent a delay of up to two years in relation to the initial schedule, as occurred in the case of the planned tender for the Madeira River waterway, which was scheduled to take place in July last year, but has now been left until 2027.

The 12 projects at risk of judicialization

• Tecon Santos 10 – Port of Santos (SP)
• SSB01 – Port of São Sebastião (SP)
• MCP01 – Porto de Santana (AP)
• NAT01 – Port of Natal (RN)
• TMP Recife – Porto do Recife (PE)
• MUC04 – Port of Fortaleza (CE
• IQI16 – Porto do Itaqui (MA)
• SUA01 – Port of Suape (PE)
• SSD-A3 – Port of Salvador (BA)
• POA26 – Port of Porto Alegre (RS)
• ITJ01 – Port of Itajaí (SC)
  Access Channel – Port of Itajaí (SC)