The National Agency for Waterway Transportation (ANTAQ) has approved the public concession process for the Port of Santos on the coast of São Paulo, Brazil.

The port concession will allocate a total of BRL6.3 billion (US$1.1 billion), of which BRL2.1 billion (US$399 million) will be used for port infrastructure and BRL4.2 billion (799 million) for the construction of an underwater tunnel to connect the cities of Santos and Guaruja, the minimum auction value established by ANTAQ is BRL3 billion (US$570 million). The term of the concession is 35 years, renewable for five years. 

The Port of Santos is the largest in Latin America, connecting over 600 ports in 125 countries. Santos is the important foreign trade route of Brazil, through which almost 27% of the country's trade balance (US$112.3 billion) passes.