Posted on March 31, 2026
Brazilian regulators are evaluating measures to unlock 36.8 billion reais (US$7bn) in investments in projects related to private-use port terminals (TUP) in the country.
As part of the efforts, the sector regulator, ANTAQ, assessed the conditions of 178 terminal projects authorized between 2013 and 2019, focusing on those that did not begin operations within the legal deadline of five years.
The survey assessed the operational situation of the projects, the reasons for the delays, the planned investments, and the status of the extension requests.
The results indicate that 21 terminals remain non-operational and, in most cases, the obstacles that halted the progress of the works involve environmental issues.
Although they represent a small share of the universe analyzed, these projects concentrate about 36.8bn reais in unrealized investments, as well as an estimated area of 48.3 million square meters that were not incorporated into the port infrastructure.
“At this moment, we are seeking to strengthen the authorization process. We do not want to create bureaucratic layers; on the contrary, ANTAQ is joining forces with environmental agencies so that the processes become viable more quickly,” said Alber Vasconcelos, ANTAQ’s director, in a statement following a webinar held by the regulator to discuss the situation of projects in the sector.
The private sector welcomed ANTAQ’s initiative to seek solutions for advancing the projects.
“Attitudes in this regard help the terminal to start operating, since the authorization to operate is only the beginning of the process. After this phase, the TUPs have a long process ahead of them. And support measures from ANTAQ and MPor [ministry of ports and airports] can help unlock the sector’s demands,” said Bárbara Cavalcanti, research and development coordinator at the Association of Private Port Terminals (ATP).
According to ANTAQ, other challenges faced by projects related to the implementation of the terminals are associated with financial issues faced by the project owners and also with legal disputes, which, in many cases, go beyond the regulator’s scope of action.
“These obstacles reflect the complexity of port projects and indicate challenges that go beyond the regulatory sphere, involving multiple institutional actors and critical stages for making the projects viable”, said the regulator.
The study carried out by ANTAQ with the mapping of the situation of private-use port terminals can be seen at this link.
