Skip to main content

Brazil: Rate of return for upcoming road tenders set at 9.2%

Brazil's Treasury Ministry has confirmed that the rate of return for the upcoming highway concession auctions is to be set at 9.2%, up from the 7.2% used in the previous round of tenders in 2013. The lower return is to ensure that the road tolls are lower. However, critics said the measure is not high enough and many contractors are looking for a rate of return of at least two digits, Brazil media reported. Even the increased rate as it stands will not lead to a greater number of contractors tendering fo
July 16, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Brazil's Treasury Ministry has confirmed that the rate of return for the upcoming highway concession auctions is to be set at 9.2%, up from the 7.2% used in the previous round of tenders in 2013.

The lower return is to ensure that the road tolls are lower. However, critics said the measure is not high enough and many contractors are looking for a rate of return of at least two digits, Brazil media reported.

Even the increased rate as it stands will not lead to a greater number of contractors tendering for business.

Paulo Correa, from the Treasury Ministry, said that the figure represents the weighted average cost of capital and not truly an estimate of return for the projects, which will depend on a number of other factors.

Correa also noted that the increase will have little affect on road users and not cause a significant rise in road tolls.

The new measure is to be applied to the four highway stretches planned to be tendered in 2015.

Also announced was the toll for the first road project to be offered in the new concession packet, around US$4.40, according to studies from the government’s technical division. The value is almost three times that of the current average toll charged for the most recent Brazilian highway concessions.

Meanwhile, the government is consulting the public until next month on the toll for a new road between the city of Chapeco in the state of Santa Catarina and the city of Curitiba in the state of Parana – both in southern Brazil.

Related Content

  • Learning from Russia's controversial road project
    February 9, 2012
    The International Road Federation (IRF), founded in 1948, is the only world forum advocating better and safer roads through better road design and construction bearing in mind the user. It is a unique institution that brings together members active in road infrastructure from both the private and public sectors. The IRF promotes roads that are safe, economically viable and ecologically friendly. The IRF believes that a sound road infrastructure brings prosperity, fights poverty, furthers education and gi
  • Delays blight Brazil’s highway programme
    August 4, 2016
    Around 130 road projects are facing delays in Brazil, according to a data from Brazil's national land transport association ANTT. A report in the newspaper O Estado de Paulo noted that many delays are caused by problems with environmental licences and expropriations, as well as a decrease in road traffic due to the economic crisis. Among projects that were meant to have been completed are those by concession holders Rota do Oeste for the Via 040, Concebra for the Eco 101 and MSVia and Galvão for BR-15
  • Increase in distances driven in the US
    February 23, 2016
    Drivers in the US have set a new record for total distance travelled. New data released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) show that US driving reached 5.0368 trillion km (3.148 trillion miles) by the end of 2015, beating the previous record of 4.8048 trillion km (3.003 trillion miles) in 2007.
  • Brazilian bridge and highway project tenders
    April 7, 2014
    A series of major project tenders are opening in Brazil. The Brazilian Government has announced five new road tenders to be launched in 2014. The highway sections run for a total distance of some 2,625km. This programme of works will lengthen the country’s highway network by some 2,282km, with the work costing an impressive US$7.39 billion in all.