Santos: What Does the Antitrust Ruling Say About Maersk, MSC, and ICTSI in the Tecon 10 Bid? – Trade News | 22/08/26

Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) issued a favorable ruling on the proposed ownership restructuring of Brasil Terminal Portuário (BTP), currently owned equally by APM Terminals (Maersk) and Terminal Investment Limited (MSC). Under the proposed arrangement, both companies could bid separately for the future Tecon Santos 10 concession and, if one wins, the other would purchase its partner’s 50% stake in BTP. CADE concluded that the transaction would not harm competition because the competitive relationship between Maersk and MSC would not be materially altered. However, the authority stressed that its review was limited solely to the competition effects of the corporate restructuring and did not determine whether the shipping companies will actually be allowed to participate in the tender. That issue remains unresolved because the current rules established by Antaq and upheld by Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts exclude both existing Santos terminal operators and shipping lines, while the Presidency’s Civil House favors allowing them to participate subject to divestment commitments. The tender has been postponed until 2027. Tecon Santos 10 involves four new berths in the Saboó area, an investment of US$1.1 billion, and an additional 3 million TEU of capacity, which would expand South America’s largest container port by 50%. CADE also rejected ICTSI’s request to intervene as an interested third party, finding that its participation was neither necessary nor useful to the proceeding. ICTSI argued that the proposed arrangement would not result in genuine market deconcentration because one partner would retain BTP while the other could acquire Tecon 10, and noted that Maersk and MSC accounted for 49.1% of Santos container demand in 2025. CADE dismissed those arguments as speculative and insufficiently supported by evidence. The article concludes that the core issue remains unresolved: no Brazilian authority has yet decided whether vertical integration between major shipping lines and port terminals should be treated as a competitive risk or as an asset, leaving the final answer to the future tender rules or possible court decisions. Link to Article