By Brazil Stock Guide – The Canal Galheta Dragagem Consortium (CCGD) — formed by Brazil’s FTS and Belgium’s Deme — won Brazil’s first-ever auction for a port access channel, offering a R$276 million (US$48.9 million) concession fee to operate and expand the Paranaguá Port waterway for 25 years. The project, with R$1.2 billion (US$212 million) in investments, marks a milestone for Brazil’s port privatization program and could serve as a model for future concessions in Santos, Salvador, Itajaí and Rio Grande.
A first-of-its-kind model
The project will increase the channel depth from 13.3 meters to 15.5 meters (43.6 to 50.8 feet) within five years, allowing larger ships to dock and boosting export capacity. Each additional centimeter of draft enables about 60 extra tons of cargo per vessel. The bidding, held at B3’s headquarters in São Paulo, ended in a live round after a technical tie between CCGD and China’s Chec Dredging Co. Ltd., both offering the maximum 12.63% tariff discount.
“We combined FTS’s local expertise with Deme’s global experience in dredging. It’s a historic moment that will benefit operators, exporters, and Brazil as a whole,” said André Maragliano, FTS representative and head of the consortium.
Boost for agribusiness
Silvio Costa Filho, Brazil’s minister of Ports and Airports, called the auction “a new era in port efficiency,” highlighting it as a blueprint for future privatizations. According to the ministry, the investment in Paranaguá could double grain export capacity, enabling an additional 20 million tons per year. The port currently handles around 2,600 ships annually, mainly carrying soybeans and animal protein.
Data from Antaq, Brazil’s port regulator, show that Paranaguá ranked as the second busiest public port in the country in the first half of 2025, moving 30.9 million tons, up 2.6% from a year earlier.
Competitive auction round
The Paranaguá concession took place amid a busy year for Brazil’s port auctions. In the same session, Petrobras (B3: PETR4) won the RDJ07 terminal at Rio de Janeiro Port for R$104 million, while Alagoas-based Britto Macelog II secured the Maceió passenger terminal for R$50,000. Together, the 2025 asset portfolio managed by the Ports and Airports Ministry and Antaq totals R$1.22 billion in expected investments.
Gateway to modernization
The channel expansion reinforces Paranaguá’s position as one of South America’s leading export gateways. The government hopes the model will attract private capital, reduce logistics bottlenecks, and modernize Brazil’s aging port infrastructure — a sector that still handles roughly 95% of the country’s foreign trade by sea, according to the ministry.
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