Brazil Scraps Para Port Auction, to Offer Three Santos Areas
Brazil canceled an auction to lease a port terminal area in the northern state of Para due to lack of interest but will auction three other areas in its largest port of Santos on Wednesday, a spokesman for the port secretariat said on Tuesday.
The government, facing its worst recession in 25 years, is counting on private investment to upgrade its strained port infrastructure as exports of soybeans, sugar, coffee and beef soar due to Brazil's weakening currency.
Fewer terminals on auction mean fewer potential funds for President Dilma Rousseff's cash-strapped government. The three areas in Santos, in the Southeast, will be offered at an auction in Sao Paulo starting at 9 a.m. (11 GMT) on Wednesday.
Port auctions, permitted under a 2012 law, were delayed for years because of objections from a federal auditor, the TCU. The government had previously expected to auction dozens of terminal areas in 2014 before it faced legal hurdles.
(Reporting by Caroline Stauffer)