Brazil's TCU Clears Re-tendering of Five Freight Terminals on the North-South Railway

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 19, Brazil's Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) decided not to conduct a prior substantive review of the concession project for five operating freight terminals on the North-South Railway, allowing the Ministry of Transport and the state-owned infrastructure planning company Infra S.A. to proceed with the preparation of tender documents and subsequent bidding procedures.

The re-tendering involves two agricultural bulk cargo terminals and three liquid bulk cargo terminals for fuels and other liquids. Among them, the Palmeirante agricultural terminal is operated by Nova Agri; the Porto Nacional agricultural terminal is operated by Agrex do Brasil; and the three liquid bulk cargo terminals in Porto Nacional are operated by Norship, Raízen, and Vibra Energia, respectively. The existing concession contracts are about to expire, and the Brazilian government has decided not to renew them.

All five freight terminals are existing facilities that have already been built and are in operation. Over the past five years, the Palmeirante terminal has handled an average of approximately 445,000 tonnes of grain annually, while the Porto Nacional agricultural terminal has handled an average of approximately 365,000 tonnes per year; the three liquid bulk cargo terminals operated by Norship, Raízen, and Vibra have handled average annual cargo volumes of approximately 443,000 tonnes, 238,000 tonnes, and 259,000 tonnes, respectively.

According to the proposal submitted by Infra S.A., the new concession period for the Palmeirante terminal is tentatively set at 16 years, the Porto Nacional agricultural terminal at 13 years, and the three liquid bulk cargo terminals at 15 years each. Using October 2025 as the price baseline, and after accounting for expansion, renewal, and ongoing maintenance costs, the present value of investments for the five projects is R$47.8 million, R$26 million, R$19.3 million, R$14 million, and R$32.8 million, respectively.

The TCU considered that the present value of investment for each individual project does not exceed R$50 million, and the projects adopt a mature concession model for existing facilities, with relatively low overall risk and economic scale, thus eliminating the need for prior substantive review procedures. The Court may still intervene through audits, complaints, or special investigations during the subsequent bidding and contract execution phases.

Currently, the tender documents and draft contracts for the five projects are undergoing public consultation. The auctions for the two agricultural bulk cargo terminals are tentatively scheduled for December 2026, while the three liquid bulk cargo terminals are planned for January 2027. Among them, Raízen has raised objections to the re-tendering of the TPN02 freight terminal, and the TCU has required the relevant audit department to separately assess whether an independent procedure should be initiated, but this matter does not affect the continued progress of the remaining tender preparations.