On 9 December 2026, Brazil auctions IQI16, a new Itaqui fertilizer terminal in São Luís. The headline figure is storage. For a ship discharging fertilizer at Itaqui, the change that counts is how the cargo leaves the hold, and how long that keeps her alongside.
Today most of it goes straight from the ship to trucks. The market study behind the auction, prepared by LabTrans at the Federal University of Santa Catarina for Brazil’s Ministry of Ports, puts direct discharge at about three quarters of Itaqui’s fertilizer volume. The rest goes through the one fertilizer terminal the port has now. With IQI16 running, the study projects direct discharge falling to about half.
The IQI16 auction in brief
ANTAQ, the national waterway transport agency, published the tender on 13 October. The IQI16 project page at ANTAQ and the port authority, EMAP, give the main terms:
- Area: about 21,800 m² of existing port land inside the public port of Itaqui, for solid mineral bulk, mainly fertilizer.
- Capacity: 70,000 tonnes of static storage and about 1 million tonnes a year of throughput.
- Lease: 25 years, with an estimated contract value of R$ 2.15 billion. The highest offer for the concession fee wins.
- Dates: bidders deliver their proposals at B3, the São Paulo exchange, on 4 December. The public session runs at B3 on 9 December at 14:00.
What the Itaqui fertilizer terminal changes at the berth
Under direct discharge, the grabs empty the hold into hoppers, the hoppers fill trucks, and the trucks run to warehouses outside the port. The ship works at the pace of that truck queue, and the queue depends on the road out of the port, the weighbridge and the warehouse at the other end. When the trucks slow down, the discharge slows with them, and the ship stays alongside.
A terminal inside the port changes that rhythm. Cargo bound for the new warehouse stays within the port area, so it does not wait for a convoy on the road. The study gives IQI16 about a quarter of Itaqui’s fertilizer by the sixth year of the lease, the same share as the existing terminal. Expect fewer days alongside for a share of the fertilizer ships calling at Itaqui.
None of this changes the coming season. The winner signs a contract and then builds, and the study’s own projection reaches the halfway mark in year six.
Itaqui keeps moving more fertilizer
The port’s own numbers show the pressure behind the auction. EMAP reported a record first quarter in 2026: 934,000 tonnes of fertilizer, against 839,000 tonnes in the same period of 2025, an increase of 11%. Most of it goes inland to farms in Maranhão and the neighbouring states.
More cargo through a port with one fertilizer terminal means more ships discharging into trucks, and more time spent alongside. IQI16 is the port’s answer to that.
What it means for stores and provisions
Today a fertilizer ship at Itaqui often spends days alongside, and that gives a supplier room. A requisition that arrives after berthing can still reach the ship before she sails.
As IQI16 takes a share of the cargo, plan for that stay to shorten. An Itaqui call starts to look more like one at Ponta da Madeira, where ore carriers load fast and sail, and the order has to be complete before she berths. A shorter stay also squeezes everything that rides on the delivery: spare parts cleared through customs, a technician going on board, fresh provisions loaded last. Three habits help at both terminals:
- Send the requisition with the ETA, before the ship berths.
- Name the agency handling the call. Gate access and the delivery slot go through them.
- Flag any bonded stores in the first message, because customs paperwork takes longer than the goods.
Our warehouse, cold rooms and refrigerated trucks are in São Luís. When the window shortens, we move the delivery earlier and the order stays with us. Read how we handle ship supply at Itaqui port, or compare the four delivery points in São Luís. Tropical Ship Supply is IMPA member #2000113.
Discharging fertilizer at Itaqui? Send the vessel, the IMO number, the ETA and the requisition to quotation@tropicalshipsupply.com and we will come back with a quotation.
