After a failed first attempt, Argentine President Javier Milei is moving ahead with a new tender to grant a private company the concession for the country\u2019s main inland shipping corridor, a 3,400-kilometer river route critical for moving Argentine exports.<\/p>\n
With the bid deadline passed, the government opened the envelopes and will now assess three contenders to operate the corridor: Belgium\u2019s Dredging, Environmental & Marine Engineering (DEME), Belgium\u2019s Jan De Nul, and Brazil\u2019s DTA Engenharia.<\/p>\n
Milei\u2019s plan is to privatize, for 25 years with an option to extend for another five, the maintenance and operation of the Argentine stretch of the main navigation channel, known locally as the V\u00eda Navegable Troncal<\/em> (VNT) and more widely as the Paran\u00e1-Paraguay waterway. The route links river ports in Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay to the Atlantic Ocean along a continuous 3,400-kilometer navigation system.<\/p>\n About 4,500 ocean-going vessels transit the corridor each year, and more than 80% of Argentina\u2019s export volume moves through it, including agro-industrial products and automotive output, according to the government.<\/p>\n The tender, launched in December, covers operations, toll collection, maintenance, marking and dredging works along the waterway, from kilometer 1238 of the Paran\u00e1 River at its confluence with the Paraguay River to the deep-water area of the R\u00edo de la Plata. It also includes technology investments aimed at improving navigation speed.<\/p>\n Argentina\u2019s 1,400-kilometer section was run for 25 years by a private consortium formed by Belgium\u2019s Jan De Nul and Argentina\u2019s Emepa. When that contract expired in 2021, the Peronist government of Alberto Fern\u00e1ndez (2019-2023) returned control to the state, though Jan De Nul continued operating the corridor as a state subcontractor. Emepa, meanwhile, was linked to the so-called \u201cNotebooks\u201d corruption case, in which prosecutors said the company\u2019s owner, Gabriel Romero, allegedly paid bribes to secure a 2010 extension of the concession.<\/p>\n After Milei took office, his administration sought to return the corridor to private hands and launched a tender in November 2024 that drew accusations of a lack of transparency. Eleven firms expressed interest, but when bids were opened only one formal offer had been submitted, from DEME, which had been among the strongest critics of the process and said the terms were skewed. The government then voided the tender and opened an investigation to determine whether DEME pressured competitors or whether an illicit pact harmed the state and Argentine producers.<\/p>\n The government said the terms for the new tender were drafted with support and auditing from the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which it said ensured transparency. In an official statement, the administration said the cooperation with the U.N. body would ensure the award process follows competitiveness criteria that directly benefit the national economy, and highlighted the role of business chambers and provincial governments along the corridor.<\/p>\n Among the main changes from the previous tender, the concession period was reduced from 30 years, with a possible 30-year extension, to 25 years with an option for five more. Reference prices were also cut to $3.8 from $4.5 per net registered ton (TRN).<\/p>\n \u201cThis tender guarantees at least a 10% reduction in dollar terms in logistics costs from day one,\u201d said I\u00f1aki Arreseygor, executive director of Argentina\u2019s National Ports and Navigation Agency. He said the scope of works also includes greater depth targets and adds the province of Entre R\u00edos to the route.<\/p>\n The government estimates the evaluation of bids will take about three months, and that the winning bidder will take control within 60 to 90 days after the award. \u201cWe should reach the second half of the year with a new operation,\u201d Arreseygor said.<\/p>\n Even so, questions remain over the process. One criticism is that awarding more than 1,400 kilometers to a single operator would create an \u201cinefficient monopoly\u201d given the scale of the task, an argument Milei\u2019s team rejects as driven by parties seeking a share of the business. Another concern is the absence of explicit \u201cdepth targets\u201d that would allow modern bulk carriers to sail fully loaded and avoid costly calls at other ports.<\/p>\n Government officials say the tender contemplates the maximum depth that existing studies allow bidders to price, while leaving open the possibility of renegotiation to reach greater depth, based on new analyses that would determine conditions on the riverbed below the levels already surveyed.<\/p>\nTender under U.N. oversight<\/strong><\/h4>\n