Brasília Metro Launches $195 Million Train Procurement Tender

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Metrô-DF, the metro operator in Brazil's capital Brasília, has launched a tender worth approximately 1 billion reais (about $195 million) to procure 15 electric multiple units (EMUs). This order is expected to reignite fierce competition between Chinese manufacturers and their long-established foreign counterparts operating in Brazil.

The operator stated in the Official Gazette that the tender adopts an open on-site competitive bidding process with the lowest price as the evaluation criterion, requiring a turnkey contract covering the full scope of engineering services including design, manufacturing, integration, testing, commissioning, and delivery. Each of the 15 EMUs will consist of four cars in an A+B+B+A formation, to be deployed in the Federal District Metro system. Interested bidders may submit proposals before 10:00 AM on September 15.

This train procurement is part of the metro network expansion plan. Currently, the Federal District Metro is advancing the capacity expansion project for Line 1, while preparing a tender for the extension to Ceilândia, which will add 6 kilometers of track and stations. Additionally, the Federal District government has announced the launch of a feasibility study for the future Line 2, approximately 60 kilometers long, with an estimated total investment of 20.4 billion reais.

The Brasília project tender is seen as the latest example of escalating competition between Chinese companies and established local manufacturers. In previous metro and commuter rail projects across Brazil, companies such as CRRC have frequently won bids, putting pressure on manufacturers like France's Alstom, Spain's CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles), and Brazil's Marcopolo.

Earlier this year, CRRC Changchun secured an order for 10 metro trains for Salvador at 490.4 million reais, with its bid significantly lower than Alstom's 614.4 million reais. In June, the tender committee disqualified CRRC for failing to register with the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), temporarily giving Alstom another chance. However, after CRRC filed an appeal, the Salvador Metro system confirmed CRRC Changchun's winning bid in the Official Gazette.

To counter competition from Chinese companies, the Brazilian Railway Industry Association (Abifer) advocates for on-site bidding rather than electronic auctions for the Brasília tender. Association President Vicente Abate stated that contracts of this magnitude involving precision equipment require full transparency in the process, and electronic auctions make it difficult to verify the true origin of submitted proposals.

In recent years, the rapid expansion of Chinese companies across multiple sectors in Brazil has sparked discontent among local manufacturers, with criticism primarily focused on these companies allegedly leveraging support from the Chinese government to gain advantages in loans, taxes, and labor costs. The most affected sector is steel, where massive imports have led to a decline in domestic production; in the automotive sector, Chinese-made electric vehicles have entered the Brazilian market in large volumes. Recently, the Brazilian Automotive Manufacturers Association (Anfavea) requested that the federal government not renew preferential import policies for pre-assembled electric vehicles that benefit Chinese manufacturers like BYD, but the federal government has decided to renew them.

Local companies remain wary of Chinese players' market penetration, believing these firms often only subcontract work to their Chinese counterparts. Despite pressure from domestic enterprises and other countries, the Brazilian government believes its diplomatic room for maneuver is limited and seeks to avoid tensions with China. Currently, China is Brazil's largest trading partner, and Brazilian exports to China have effectively mitigated the impact of the Trump administration's escalating tariffs on trade balance. André Pereira César, an analyst at political consultancy Hold Consultoria, noted that while Chinese companies have indeed sparked dissatisfaction among local businesses in multiple Brazilian government procurement contracts, the Brazilian government has very limited room to maneuver. From a commercial perspective, Brazil must maintain friendly relations with China to counter tariff threats from the United States.