THE Federal Court of Sao Paulo in Brazil has denied Danish shipping group Maersk's request to suspend the bidding process for the Tecon 10 (T10) terminal at Brazil's Port of Santos, reports Rotterdam's WorldCargo News.
The ruling allows the auction to proceed despite Maersk's concerns over the exclusion of incumbent terminal operators from the first phase of bidding.
According to a ruling by Judge Paulo Cezar Neves Junior, cited by Reuters, there was no illegality in the design of the auction by Brazil's National Waterway Transport Agency (Antaq), adding that the country's federal audit court (TCU) is also reviewing the bidding process.
He cited the absence of an imminent risk that would justify judicial intervention and rejected Maersk's injunction request.
Maersk had sought a review of the auction rules, which bar companies already operating at Santos from participating in the initial round.
Under the current two-stage bidding process, if no valid proposals are received in the first phase, incumbent operators can bid in subsequent rounds, provided they divest their existing port holdings before signing a contract.
Maersk's APM Terminals operates Brasil Terminal Portuario (BTP), located on the right bank of the Port of Santos, under a joint venture with MSC's TIL. The terminal is capable of handling 1.5 million TEU.
The auction restrictions open the door for new entrants, including potential Asian rivals such HMM, which has voiced its plans to bid for the terminal.
The T10 project, still awaiting final tender approval, involves a 621,975 square-metre brownfield site in the port's Saboo district and is expected to require a US$970 million investment.
With an annual handling capacity of 2.3 million TEU, the new terminal is viewed as a critical relief valve for the congested port, which saw its global Container Port Performance Index ranking tumble from 114th in 2022 to 294th in 2023, due to growing backlogs and insufficient infrastructure.
Under the latest privatisation model, T10 will feature four berths instead of three, increasing the port's container handling capacity by 50 per cent, enabling Santos to accommodate up to 9 million TEU annually, up from the current 6 million TEU.
https://www.shippingazette.com/news?news_id=9250700001362
|
Back:
Next:
