The Ministry of Ports and Airports of Brazil confirmed that the concession fee for Tecon Santos 10, the new container terminal to be tendered at the Saboó quay (STS10), will be allocated directly to the Port Authority of Santos (APS).
The amount is expected to be no less than US$ 180 million, and will be paid by the winning bidder for the lease of the area. The final figure will emerge from the bids.
Federal funds, local decisions
The federal port authority clarified that the funds will not have a fixed destination, but it will be the APS itself that will define the investments within the framework of the governance rules applicable to state-owned companies. When asked about possible projects to be financed, APS refrained from commenting until the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) issues its final opinion on the process.
The confirmation was well received in the city of Santos, which highlighted that the fee remains under local administration. “This guarantees resources for planning and improving the port’s competitiveness, consolidating it as a national center,” the municipality stated in a communiqué, although it emphasized that the funds retain their federal character.
Future infrastructure
The Tecon Santos 10 project envisions an area of 621,900 m², with a capacity for 3.25 million TEUs per year and 91,000 tons of general cargo. The planned investment exceeds US$ 1190 million in a contract that will extend for 25 years starting in 2026. In addition to operating the terminal, the future concessionaire will have to build a new platform for the Giusfredo Santini Passenger Terminal (Concais), which will be relocated from Outeirinhos to Valongo.
The tender is scheduled for December and will be conducted in two phases. In the first phase, operators that already manage container terminals in Santos —DP World, CMA CGM (Santos Brasil), MSC and Maersk, among others— will not be allowed to participate. Only if no bidders appear in that stage will the competition be opened to all. The restriction, established by Antaq, aims to avoid market concentration, although the TCU still has to rule on its validity.
Debates with quays at capacity
The debate over the rules is significant. For some consultants, such as Rodrigo Paiva (Graf Infra Consulting), the restrictions reduce competition and could result in lower fee values. Luis Claudio Montenegro, for his part, insisted that the bids should align with the Port Development and Zoning Plan (PDZ) and be governed as a state policy, not a temporary one.
Antaq, on the other hand, defended its decision as a mechanism to attract new players to the port, guarantee equal treatment for users, and mitigate regulatory and antitrust risks.
Meanwhile, the Port of Santos continues to operate at the limit of its capacity: long-distance container movement grew strongly between January 2022 and June 2025, with peaks close to 259,000 TEUs per month, according to DataLiner data, a context that makes the future of Tecon Santos 10 strategic, poised to definitively establish itself as the largest terminal in South America.
