By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazilian logistics, infrastructure, foreign trade and agribusiness groups are pressing the federal government to hold the Tecon Santos 10 auction in 2026, arguing that the process should preserve broad competition and equal conditions for potential bidders.
In a joint statement, the associations said any limits on participation in a project of this scale should be exceptional and backed by technical grounds. “Restrictions on participation, in matters of this nature, must be strictly exceptional, technically grounded and strictly proportional,” the statement said.
The document was signed by the Brazilian Association of Cabotage Shipowners, known as ABAC; the Association of Private Port Terminals, or ATP; Instituto Livre Mercado; the Brazil-Asia Chamber of Commerce; Centronave; Logística Brasil; the Brazilian Infrastructure Institute; ANEA; and Cecafé.
The groups are calling for the government to move quickly and maintain the model originally proposed by Brazil’s waterway transport regulator, Antaq. They also cited a technical opinion from the Investment Partnerships Program, under the Chief of Staff’s Office, which classified the project as strategic and recommended swift action to make it viable.
The dispute centers on the rules for participation in the auction. According to Broadcast, a proposal from the Chief of Staff’s Office to allow shipping companies to take part in the first stage of the auction, provided they divest assets already operated in the region, is facing resistance within Antaq’s board.
Regulators at the agency believe a change to the bidding rules could require a fresh review by Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts, known as TCU, potentially delaying the auction further. The model discussed at the TCU in 2025 initially restricted the participation of shipping groups such as MSC and A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, whose shares trade in Copenhagen under the ticker MAERSK-B.CO. The companies would only be allowed to participate in a second round if no valid bids were submitted by new operators.
The associations said the Port of Santos accounts for about 29% of Brazil’s foreign trade. Tecon Santos 10 is expected to have capacity to handle 3.5 million containers a year.
The project includes planned investments of 5.6 billion reais, an expansion of about 50% in the port complex’s capacity and the potential creation of more than 3,000 direct jobs.