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It Has Been Almost A Year Without Moving Containers, And The Situation Is Already Affecting The Economy Of The Municipality And The State
The Council of Business Federations of Santa Catarina (COFEM) requests urgency in signing the transitional leasing contract for the Port of Itajaí. It has been almost a year without moving containers, and the situation is already affecting the economy of the municipality and the state. The business sector will send an official letter to the authorities (parliamentarians, Antaq, Ministry of Ports and Airports, and TCU) reinforcing the request. The topic was discussed by COFEM this Monday, the 13th, during a meeting in Florianópolis, with the participation of representatives from the State Secretariat of Ports and Airports and the City Council of Itajaí.
“The port is essential for Santa Catarina and has been going through a challenging situation, which affects the port complex of Itajaí and includes Portonave. Each container moved generates an economic turnover of R$ 4,000 to R$ 5,000,” said the president of FIESC, Mario Cezar de Aguiar. “Unfortunately, this money has stopped circulating in the economy. On the main trade route in the city, 14 establishments have already closed. So it is a situation that affects Itajaí, but also the region,” explained the deputy secretary of Ports, Airports, and Railways of SC, Robison Coelho.
The secretary also highlighted that Portonave is being directly affected because Itajaí is responsible for dredging the access channel, which has suffered siltation due to recent rains. “And we have financial difficulties to cover these costs due to everything that is happening,” he added, recalling that Itajaí has not operated containers since December 2022.
“We are going through a bureaucratic stage in the bidding process and need to ensure the signing of the transitional contract as quickly as possible,” said the city councilor of Itajaí, Beto Cunha, who represented the Municipal Chamber at the meeting. He informed that, after signing, the effective operation may take six months to start due to operational and bureaucratic adjustments, such as the customs process.
“Today, Itajaí has the highest rate of defaults in the state, and companies cannot obtain credit due to their indebtedness,” revealed Hélio Dagnoni, president of Fecomércio. According to him, on December 31, 2022, Itajaí had 7,660 active CNPJs, but today there are 6,317, meaning there has been a decrease of 1,343 companies in less than a year.
Understand The Process: The National Agency of Waterway Transportation (ANTAQ) is conducting the transitional bidding process for companies interested in exploring the container terminal to resume operations of the terminal temporarily (for two years) until the conclusion of the definitive leasing process, which will be for 35 years. After the disqualifications of the first and second place on October 2 and 20, the Permanent Bidding Commission for Concessions and Leases (CPLA) summoned the third place, Teconnave Container Terminal, from Navegantes, which was the company that submitted the third-largest proposal, with a total of 35,000 TEUs/month. According to ANTAQ, the deadline for appeals was closed on November 7. The date for the approval of the results of the simplified procedure is now up to the board.
Still at the meeting, other topics were discussed, such as: the approval of tax reform, the Intermunicipal Multi-Purpose Consortium of the Municipalities of Amurel (CIM/Amurel) for regionalized environmental licensing, and Regulatory Standard No. 16, as well as the legal framework concerning indigenous lands.
COFEM is composed of the Federation of Industries (FIESC), the Federation of Commerce (FECOMÉRCIO), the Federation of Agriculture (FAESC), the Federation of Transportation (FETRANCESC), the Federation of Business Associations (FACISC), the Chamber of Shopkeepers (FCDL), the Federation of Micro and Small Enterprises (FAMPESC), as well as Sebrae-SC.
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