BRAZIL will not go ahead with the privatisation of the Port of Santos, reports Montevideo's MercoPress agency.
Marcio Franca, incoming Minister of Ports and Airports, shared his comments to O Estado de S Paulo's online edition on December 22.
Former-President Jair Bolsonaro's administration had previously mapped out plans to privatise the port - the largest in Latin America - in the second half of 2022.
The Brazilian National Waterway Transport Agency (ANTAQ) approved the public concession process for the Port of Santos on September 12.
The process had never been completed due to procedural difficulties, including getting final approval from the Federal Audit Court (TCU).
The bidding process scheduled for 2023 has now been scrapped. 'The [privatisation] auction will not take place,' said Mr Franca.
'The port authority will remain state-owned. What we will do is concessions for areas within the port, for private terminals. Where [concession agreements] have already been made, we respect [it].'
Mr Franca added that 'while the incoming government has no problems with private-sector involvement in port activities, the state should be able to properly regulate the sector.'
The original project was structured to provide BRL6.3 billion (US$1.2 billion) in new investments, of which BRL2.1 billion would have been allocated to port infrastructure and BRL4.2 billion tunnel to connect the cities of Santos and Guaruja.
In November, the Santos Port Authority (SPA) ended the third quarter with a net profit of BRL136 million, a growth of 38.3 per cent from 2021.
The port moved 42.8 million tons in the quarter, an increase of 17.8 per cent.
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Marcio Franca, incoming Minister of Ports and Airports, shared his comments to O Estado de S Paulo's online edition on December 22.
Former-President Jair Bolsonaro's administration had previously mapped out plans to privatise the port - the largest in Latin America - in the second half of 2022.
The Brazilian National Waterway Transport Agency (ANTAQ) approved the public concession process for the Port of Santos on September 12.
The process had never been completed due to procedural difficulties, including getting final approval from the Federal Audit Court (TCU).
The bidding process scheduled for 2023 has now been scrapped. 'The [privatisation] auction will not take place,' said Mr Franca.
'The port authority will remain state-owned. What we will do is concessions for areas within the port, for private terminals. Where [concession agreements] have already been made, we respect [it].'
Mr Franca added that 'while the incoming government has no problems with private-sector involvement in port activities, the state should be able to properly regulate the sector.'
The original project was structured to provide BRL6.3 billion (US$1.2 billion) in new investments, of which BRL2.1 billion would have been allocated to port infrastructure and BRL4.2 billion tunnel to connect the cities of Santos and Guaruja.
In November, the Santos Port Authority (SPA) ended the third quarter with a net profit of BRL136 million, a growth of 38.3 per cent from 2021.
The port moved 42.8 million tons in the quarter, an increase of 17.8 per cent.
SeaNews Turkey