Aug 27, 2020

 The Board of Directors of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) ratified this Thursday (27) the result of the selection of consultants responsible for the studies to privatize the ports of Santos and São Sebastião, on the coast of São Paulo state. The DAGNL consortium – composed of DTA Engenharia Ltda. (leader), Garin Infraestrutura Assessoria e Participações Ltda., Alvarez & Marsal Consultoria em Engenharia Ltda., Lobo & De Rizzo Sociedade de Advogados and Navarro Prado Advogados – was the winner of the selection process for the realization of the services, which include project evaluation, structuring and implementation.

The work will involve a thorough analysis of the assets, which are inserted in the Investment Partnership Program (PPI) of the Presidency of the Republic, and the indication of alternatives for the participation of the private initiative in the projects. It is expected that private participation expand investments in ports, resulting in the modernization and improvement of services, greater flexibility in commercial management, increased competitiveness and the incorporation of best international practices. 

The consortium will be responsible for supporting BNDES throughout the privatization process, including the phases of public hearings and the event.

“In a project of such complexity, the fieldwork will listen to local stakeholders and interlocutors, whether they are users of the port, associations, unions or representatives of the municipalities. The structuring of the final solution for privatization will be the result of the studies developed from this procurement and of these interactions with the port and local community throughout the process, including the holding of public hearings with wide participation to collect contributions to the model,” said Cleverson Aroeira, BNDES Deputy managing director of the Structuring Investment Partnerships Division.

According to the contractual clause to avoid potential conflicts, the companies that are part of the consortium, that is, authors of the projects and studies, will not be able to participate, directly or indirectly, in future competition for partnerships with the private sector in the ports of Santos and São Sebastião. This forecast, such as other contractual forecasts defined by BNDES, ensures the fairness of the process and the independence of consultants to present the best alternatives for government decision.

According to the PPI, which qualified the port of Santos for studies at the end of 2019, Brazilian port administrations suffer from low budget execution and low investment capacity with their own funds, which explain the option of some important players in the sector for exploiting TUPs to the detriment of public ports.

The Port of Santos is the main part of the privatization program for organized ports, says Fabio Abrahão, BNDES Managing Director of the Infrastructure, Concessions and PPPs Division. “With this project, we hope to attract private partners capable not only to leverage the efficiency of the current operation in Santos, but also to guarantee relevant investments in access to the port and in the expansion of its operational areas.” 

In São Sebastião, there is an excellent opportunity for the private partner to develop local vocations and consolidate the port as a complementary logistics solution to Santos, explained Abrahão. According to him, the preliminary market surveys showed there is already a great deal of investor interest in the asset.

The process – At the end of April, the Ministry of Infrastructure (MINFRA) and BNDES signed a contract to carry out studies on the new management and exploration models of both ports.

Although the two assets are subject to studies simultaneously, this does not mean that the privatization model will cover the two assets together. The realization of a single study takes advantage of the synergies of being located in the same area of influence. The studies will indicate the scenarios for the government to define the best privatization model, which may combine the two assets or result in different operators.

From the conclusion of the contract, a selection process was carried out to choose the consultants responsible for the studies, which will be supervised by BNDES. The procurement aroused great interest from the invited consultants, who organized themselves into seven consortia for the submission of proposals, totaling more than 30 participating companies. After analyzing the seven proposals sent, disclosure of notes to the participants and opening of maturity for funds, those responsible for the three best placed proposals were invited and presented new commercial proposals, being selected the lowest price, from DAGNL, of R$ 6.56 million. During the judgment of the proposals presented, it became clear the compatibility of the quality of the proposals with the execution of the studies for the privatization of an asset with enormous importance for the logistics of the country. The qualification stage was then carried out, with the possibility of appeals by the other participants. After this phase, without any appeal, the DAGNL consortium was confirmed as the winner of the process.

The studies are scheduled to start in September. The commitment is that the studies contracted will be completed in the second quarter of 2021 and that the auction will be held in 2022.

Port of Santos – With 53 terminals, 16 km of docks, 100 km of internal railway network, 20 km of own road accesses and 55 km of pipelines, the Port of Santos handled, in 2019 alone, 134 million tons of cargo, with net revenue of R$ 967.8 million and net income of R$ 87.3 million. The Port of Santos is the largest port complex in Latin America and accounts for almost one third of Brazilian market trades. 

Port of São Sebastião – The port complex of São Sebastião consists of the public port and the private use terminal of Transpetro. The port is delegated by the Union to the state of São Paulo and is currently managed by Companhia Docas de São Sebastião. In total, it has five berths, four storage yards, as well as five silos with 4,000 tons of static capacity. In 2019, it handled 740,500 tons, an increase of 6.5% in relation to the previous year. Even with the growth in transported volume, the accumulated net loss of the port exceeds R$ 43.5 million.

About BNDES – Founded in 1952 and currently linked to the Ministry of Economy, BNDES is the main instrument of the Federal Government to promote long-term investments in the Brazilian economy. Its actions are focused on the socioenvironmental and economic impact in Brazil. The Bank offers special conditions for micro-, small- and medium-sized companies, in addition to social investment lines, aimed at education and health, family farming, basic sanitation and urban transport. In crisis situations, the Bank acts in an anticyclical manner and assists in the formulation of solutions for the resumption of economic growth.