Antaq to bid bulk terminal managed by Cargill in Santos
Valor Econômico
The end the long story involving the bulk terminal of Cargill, in the port of Santos is near. After two emergency renewals of the lease contract made by Codesp, the state company responsible for the management of the port, the National Agency of Water Transportation (Antaq) approved the rules and the values for the public bid of the terminal. The Federal Budget Oversight Board (TCU, in Portuguese) analyzes the public rules. The expectation of Codesp is to receive the bids and open the envelopes until the end of October.
Besides a necessary disbursement of R$ 67.7 million (US$ 35.6 million), the winner in the public bid will have to pay to the port authority fees 21% and 28% higher, respectively, for the square meter of leased area and for the ton of cargo handled. The collection will go from R$ 1.56 (US$ 0.82) - price of the current contract - to R$ 1.90 (US$ 1) per square meter. This price, if confirmed, will be the highest of the port of Santos.
For Antaq, the old rates do not reflect the valuation of the public assets and the new ones only price the increasing demand for the port infrastructure available. "We are defining how the common wealth available for the lessee for commercial exploration will be paid for", affirmed to Valor the managing officer of Antaq, Fernando Fialho. "In the last years, the chain of commerce has skyrocketed and there is more demand for spaces and services in the ports".
Who wins the public bid will have to pay R$ 43.454 million (US$ 22.9 million) for the standard site (remuneration for the existing improvements), an initial grant of R$ 11.254 million (US$ 5.92 million) (down payment) and make investments of R$ 13.026 million (US$ 6.9 million) - modernization of the system of leather straps, construction of offices, renewal of scales and pavement of the access to the terminal, among other things. And theses values are fixed. In the public bid, the winner is the one who offers, besides all that, the greatest premium, that the Antaq calls "business opportunity cost".
The rules and the values of the bid were submitted to the TCU last week. The Oversight Board has 30 days to make its remarks. Antaq and Codesp expect it will be a fierce competition. One of the bets is that, besides the port operators, groups of investors and railroad concessionaires (Ferroban crosses the area of the terminal) participate in the dispute.