EL7.AI
CommoditiesMedium•28 October 2026•
2 min read

Trafigura and Mubadala Halt Brazilian Port Sale After Bids Fall 30% Short of Expectations

Key Facts

1Trafigura and Mubadala Capital halted sale plans after bids came in 30% below expectations.
2The port currently has capacity of about 50 million tonnes a year, with a license to expand to 100 million tonnes a year.
3The two companies acquired a controlling stake in the port in 2014.

Trafigura and Mubadala Capital have halted plans to sell Brazil’s Porto Sudeste port after bids came in 30% below expectations, according to a summary published by Mining.com on October 28, 2026. The decision puts the sale process on hold amid a gap between what the owners expected and what potential buyers offered. The summary linked the decision to weak iron ore prices and an uncertain outlook, without specifying whether the owners had cited those factors as direct reasons for the pause. The summary provided no further details on the value of the bids or when the process might resume. The port is located in Itaguaí and handles iron ore shipments from the Iron Quadrangle region of Minas Gerais state to international markets.

The list of bidders included a consortium formed by BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners with mining company Vale and steelmaker Gerdau, while I Squared Capital submitted a separate offer, according to Bloomberg coverage carried by InvestNews. The available information did not state the value of either bid or how they ranked. Mubadala, Gerdau, I Squared and M Resources did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while Trafigura, Stonepeak and Global Infrastructure Partners declined to comment. Vale’s participation in the consortium creates a direct link between one of Brazil’s largest iron ore producers and an asset used to ship the commodity overseas. The involvement of infrastructure and investment firms gives the bids a competitive character, but the pause indicates that offers in this round did not meet the sellers’ expectations.

The port currently has capacity of about 50 million tonnes a year, according to financial data cited in Bloomberg’s coverage, while its official website says it has a license to expand to 100 million tonnes a year. The port is a logistics hub that gives Brazilian mining companies access to global markets, particularly Southeast Asia, and is connected by rail to ore-producing Minas Gerais state. Trafigura and Mubadala acquired a controlling stake in it in 2014 from MMX Mineração e Metálicos. The ownership places the current process within a long-term investment in iron ore export infrastructure, rather than as a standalone operating transaction separate from the mining sector. The available information did not specify a next step or a new date for putting the port up for sale.