Tecon Imbituba

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In April 2008, Brazilian Wedelia Participacoes signed a 25 year concession contract with Companhia Docas de Imbituba and Brazil’s National Waterway Transport Agency (Antaq) to build, rehabilitate and operate the container terminal at Imbituba in Santa Catarina State. Companhia Docas de Imbituba was a private operator that held a concession contract for the entire port until 2012. Companhia Docas de Imbituba had the authority to lease the port, but since the national government would become the port authority after 2012, Antaq also participated in the tender. In 2007, the port handled 18,000 TEUs but expansion capacity could permit up to 950,000 TEUs/y. Wedelia Participacoes was to carry out works to enlarge the terminal and berth 2, extending the wharf to a total of at least 280 meters. The plans also included the construction of a 300-meter wharf, which was to result in two wharfs for the berthing and operation of full container vessels. Additionally, the dredging of the port lead to a significant change in draft, going from 9 meters to12 meters in depth at the end of 2008, and was scheduled to reach 15 meters at the end of 2010. After expansion, the capacity of Tecon Imbituba was expected to reach 950,000 TEU per year. Wedelia Participacoes, a subsidiary of container terminal operator Santos Brasil Participacoes SA formed Tecon Imbituba SA as the project company. Santos Brasil Participacoes SA also controlled Tecon 1 in Santos Port. In March 2008, the contract was awarded to Wedelia Participacoes in an international competitive tender in which the highest price to the government was the bidding criteria. Wedelia Participacoes paid BRL 124 million (US $67.8 million) to the government to lease the facility, 260% higher than the minimum bid of R$ 77 million (US $42 million), beating competitor Wilson Group [Brazil]. The amount of Wilson Group’s bid was not publically available. Total investment in Tecon Imbituba was estimated at BRL 283 million reais (US $154.6 million) over the 25 year period, the majority earmarked for port expansion in the first two years. Santos had an estimated US $123 million in cash from operations to spend on expansion of the port and did not use project finance lending in 2008. Figures converted from Brazilian reais to USD using the period avg./market rate published by IMF for 2008.