Report: Scant interest in Brazil's port concession auction

The Brazilian government's plan to offer 25-year concessions for certain port terminals is attracting little interest with only one company presenting an offer for this week's auction, according to a report.

Earlier this year, the government announced a plan to offer concessions for five port terminals, via two auctions. The first auction is scheduled for Friday on the São Paulo stock exchange and the second is due to be held September 28.

In the first round, three terminals are up for auction: two at Paranaguá port, in southern Paraná state, and one at Itaqui in the northeastern state of Maranhão. The terminals in Paranaguá are for pulp and vehicles while the one in Itaqui is for pulp.

However, pulp producer Suzano is the only company to have presented an offer with a bid for the Itaqui terminal, according to financial newspaper Valor Econômico, which did not reveal its source.

According to Valor, another paper and pulp producer, Klabin, evaluated presenting an offer but decided not to because of doubts regarding the terminal's economic feasibility.

The deadline to present offers for the first auction expired Tuesday.

Another two terminals will be up for auction in the second round: one in Santana port, in northern Amapá state, and another in Santos port, São Paulo state. The terminal in Amapá is mainly used for woodchips and the one in Santos focuses on bulk liquid fuels. So far, there is no information about investor interest in the terminals.