One of the main waves of new investments in the port sector is finally about to take off. In exchange for immediate disbursements in expanding the capacity of terminals operated by the private sector, the National Waterway Transport Agency (Antaq) gave the green light to the first two requests for early renewal of lease contracts that expire only at the turn of the decade.
The approval of the regulatory agency has been expected by businessmen since the enactment of Law 12.815, in June last year, which defines the new regulatory framework for ports. Antaq's decision includes proposals from AGEO and Copape Terminais e Armazéns, responsible for handling liquid bulk in the Port of Santos, which total R$ 215,5 million in investments until 2017.
More than 40 other requests, totaling around R$10 billion, are under analysis by the government. They are for terminals tendered after 1993, when the previous port law came into effect, and involve contracts normally lasting 20 to 25 years. Private operators have plans such as extensions to the berths to receive larger ships or expansions to the backyards to store more cargo. They allege, however, that the remaining time for operating the terminals is not enough to amortize new investments. Therefore, they ask for early renewal of contracts.
The order stock will begin to be unloaded now, according to Mário Povia, who takes office today as general director of Antaq. He had been acting on an interim basis since February. Povia adds that the agency's first two authorizations have already been sent to the Secretariat of Ports for analysis and signature by Minister Antônio Henrique Silveira.
The two liquid bulk terminals are located on Ilha Barnabé, on the left bank of Santos, and were leased at the beginning of the last decade. Both contracts have a duration of 20 years and are renewable for the same period. AGEO's terminal occupies an area of 59,9 thousand square meters and is leased to the company until 2021. It undertakes to invest R$ 212 million, building two new docking piers and expanding the back area, in exchange for the early renewal of the lease until 2041. In the case of Copape, the amount is more modest and provides for a disbursement of R$ 3,55 million in return for the extension of the contract, which expires in 2020.
The early extension of the contracts was the subject of controversy during the processing of the MP for the Ports. An amendment presented by the leader of the PMDB in the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha (RJ), guaranteed the automatic renewal of port concessions. It provoked a clash in plenary and deputy Anthony Garotinho (PR-RJ) even called it the “Uncle Scrooge Amendment” for defending the interests of businessmen in the sector. President Dilma Rousseff sanctioned a final version of the text that allowed extending the lease periods for terminals, but “at the discretion of the granting power”.
According to a government source, after the AGEO and Copape terminals, the idea is to concentrate the analysis of requests submitted by the private sector, prioritizing those that involve greater disbursements and shorter investment maturation time. Another criterion to be taken into account is the absence of environmental difficulties to expand capacity.
One of the last formal steps towards approving the requests was taken last week, with the publication of a technical note by Antaq that details the methodology for calculating the economic-financial rebalancing of lease contracts.
The new president of Companhia Docas do Estado de São Paulo (Codesp), Angelino Caputo, reinforces his intention to approve these processes, provided that the terminal is entitled to an additional period in the original contract, makes investments and obeys the Development and Zoning Plan (PDZ) of the port, now being revised by the government. “Do you agree with the new rule, will you comply with the requirements? There's nothing against the guy extending it”, says Caputo.
Abratec, an entity that represents container terminal operators in organized ports, expects to obtain government approval for the proposals presented by nine of its 13 associates. They represent 63% of container handling across the country and have capacity expansion projects with total contributions of R$ 4 billion, but only the early renewal of contracts gives companies a guarantee that they will have enough time to recover their investments, says Sérgio Salomão, president of the association.
Orders were taken to Antaq by terminals such as Tecon Santos, Libra Santos, Tecon Rio Grande and TCP (Paranaguá). Salomão says that adjustments to the berthing docks are necessary to receive large ships that did not exist when the original contracts were signed.
Source: Valor Econômico
By Daniel Rittner and Fernanda Pires | From Brasilia and Santos
