Brazil’s port operators have not given up after the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) blocked the government from allowing them to extend current concessions to up to 70 years. The companies say they have identified a clause that could enable the change. Contracts signed under the first Law of Ports, in 1993, only allowed concessions to run for two consecutive 25-year periods. Most concessionaires are in that situation. They are being represented by the Brazilian Association of Port Terminals (ABTP), with support from the Brazilian Association of Public-Use Container Terminals (Abratec). Ogarito Linhares, port concessions director of the National Secretariat of Ports, warns against any decisions that may block the process again and says his agency is working to meet the TCU requirements to allow the law to proceed.
Source: Valor – International