The billion-dollar portfolio of port concessions on the Lula administration's schedule includes a dozen projects that risk ending up in court, either due to rules included in the bids or specific challenges to each project.
On this list is the mega-container terminal Tecon Santos 10, designed for the Port of Santos (SP).
The litigation risk assessment was prepared by the National Agency for Waterway Transport (ANTAQ), based on information requested by the Attorney General of the Union (AGU). The agency that acts in defense of the federal government seeks to anticipate possible legal disputes involving the bids considered most important in each sector.
The most sensitive projects involve 12 major cargo terminals, concessions for access channels and port leases in different regions of the country. The Tecon Santos 10, planned to be installed in the Saboó region, on the right bank of the Port of Santos, is the most targeted.
Planned for container handling and storage and general cargo in an area of 622,000 square meters, the Tecon Santos 10 does not yet have a fixed date for its auction. Port sector companies already admit the possibility that the bid may not take place in 2026, given the successive date changes announced by the government.
Since last year, several forecasts have been cited for the launch of the call for bids or holding of the tender, 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 "over the course of 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.
```Calendar changes stem from internal government disagreements over the bidding model. The Ministry of Ports and Airports and ANTAQ favor a two-phase competition format, in which shipowners already operating in Santos would not participate in the first round. The Casa Civil (Civil House), as well as the TCU (Brazilian Court of Audit), defend a model with no restrictions on operator participation. The issue also involves pressure from international giants interested in the project.
ANTAQ's list of potential targets for legal challenges includes, in the North, the MCP01 terminal at Santana Port (AP), and the IQI16 project at Itaqui Port (MA).
In the Northeast, the projects include NAT01 at Natal Port (RN); TMP Recife at Recife Port (PE); MUC04 at Fortaleza Port (CE); and SUA01 at Suape Port (PE).
The list includes SSD-A3 at Salvador Port (BA), and projects in the South and Southeast, such as POA26 at Porto Alegre Port (RS), ITJ01 at Itajaí Port (SC), the lease SSB01 at São Sebastião Port (SP), and the concession of the access channel to Itajaí Port.
The list was requested by the AGU (Attorney General's Office) in January and answered by ANTAQ last week. During this interval, some terminals already began being taken to market auction. In February, the federal government held an auction of three terminals at B3 in São Paulo: MCP01, POA26, and NAT01.
The result saw low competition. The MCP01 terminal at Santana Port was won by CS Infra at the symbolic bid of R$ 2, the only bid submitted, because what the asset provides for are estimated investments of R$ 150.2 million, over a 25-year contract.
Days before the auction, a ruling by the 4th Federal Civil Court of the Federal District Judicial Section suspended the bidding following action filed by Rocha Granéis, a company operating at the port. ANTAQ appealed and succeeded in reversing the injunction, allowing the auction to proceed.
```htmlAnother project from the list taken to auction was POA26, at Porto Alegre Port, leased for R$ 10,000 to the Consórcio Portos do Sul, formed by the companies Soluções Inteligentes Operadores Portuários and Simetria Logística. The terminal foresees approximately R$ 21 million in investments and a ten-year contract.
NAT01, at Natal Port, was also auctioned, acquired by Fomento do Brasil with a bid of R$ 50,000. The terminal has a forecast of R$ 55.17 million in investments and a 25-year contract.
A fourth project, TMP Recife, was supposed to have been auctioned in the same session, but ended up withdrawn from the bidding. The local port authority itself requested the suspension to review the project's technical information.
In the waterways sector, the Ministry of Ports and Airports has already had to abandon the schedule that provided for offering five federal rivers, following manifestations by indigenous peoples opposed to the concession of rivers in the Amazon region.
The postponements represent a delay of up to two years compared to the initial schedule, as occurred in the case of the bidding planned for the Madeira River waterway, which was originally scheduled to take place in July of last year, but has now been rescheduled for 2027.
The 12 projects at risk of legal challenges
- Tecon Santos 10 – Santos Port (SP)
- SSB01 – São Sebastião Port (SP)
- MCP01 – Santana Port (AP)
Access Channel – Port of Itajaí (SC)
