Amaggi Navegação, a branch of the group controlled by the family of Senator Blairo Maggi (PRMT), completed the main points of its project to expand the volume of grain flow along the Madeira-Amazonas corridor.
After investments of BRL 450 million in the last two years on this front, the company will put into operation this month a new Private Use Terminal (TUP) in Porto Velho (RO) and a cargo transfer station in Itacoatiara (AM), in addition to of more barges and tugboats. With this, it will increase its river transport capacity in the region by 80%, to 5 million tons per year.
The novelty, among so many agribusiness logistical advertisements in the so-called “Arco Norte”, is the terminal model chosen by Amaggi: it is floating. That is, it is anchored in the middle of the river. Barges dock on one side and export ships on the other. A crane attached to the terminal will transfer the grains directly, without the need for storage.
“It is an innovative model in Brazil and it has the disadvantage of not being able to store it. Perfect coordination between ship and barge is necessary, a 'just in time' logistics”, says Jorge Zanatta, director of Amaggi Navegação. “If one of them is missing, the whole operation stops”.
According to the executive, it was a bold and pioneering option, but with significant gains. “The floating terminal has a lower cost than the conventional one and the licensing processes are simpler and faster”.
The accounts show the disparity in expenses and time: a conventional terminal, built on the bank of the river, costs between R$ 150 million and R$ 200 million and takes at least four years to start operating due to the
delay in the release of state and federal licenses necessary for the enterprise. The floating one costs BRL 50 million and is ready in 18 months. “It does not involve issues such as deforestation, land ownership, river ravines and other processes”, says Zanatta. In a recent interview with Valor, the president of ADM in Brazil and South America (except Argentina), Valmor Schaffer, stated that if what Amaggi did on the Madeira River “works out”, it also intends to replicate the idea in other river corridors.
The growth strategy had already been designed by the group for some years and gained momentum with the organizational restructuring of the group, now divided into four business units.
In the navigation area, the perception was that the possibilities for expansion were limited. Located in Porto Velho and with limited access for trucks, the public port did not offer conditions for expansion for Amaggi to keep up with the growing supply of grains in Rondônia and the Northwest of Mato Grosso. In 2014, the need for expansion became more evident after the torrential rains of the Amazonian winter flooded Porto Velho and paralyzed part of the public port. Amaggi did not suffer directly, but terminals such as Cargill's had to stop operations after being submerged in water.
Starting this year, in addition to the public port of Porto Velho, Amaggi will also have a private terminal 20 kilometers downriver and on high ground, so as not to run risks. Together, they will increase the group's grain flow capacity through Madeira from 2,8 million tons per year to 5 million in 2016. In Itacoatiara, the transhipment terminal will be complemented by the floating one, in order to absorb the new volume .
According to Zanatta, the Porto Velho TUP is in the pre-operational testing phase. The floating is already ready, just waiting for the Federal Revenue customs clearance. The company will also incorporate 60 new bulk barges and three new tugboats, increasing the company's own fleet on the Madeira-Amazonas corridor to 175 barges and 20 tugboats.
With US$ 4,4 billion invoiced in 2014 in Brazil and abroad and in the 26th position in the ranking of the largest exporting companies in the country in the first quarter, Amaggi invested R$ 1 billion in the last three years in logistics, land acquisition, structure for grain origination and processing. Almost half turned to the Madeira corridor, where two decades ago Amaggi started river transport and which is still the group's favorite. “It is, without a doubt, our main river”, says Zanatta.
When it reaches five million tons, Madeira-Amazonas will represent just under half of all that Amaggi handled in 2014, 11 million tons of grain.
At Tapajós, Amaggi created a joint venture with Bunge to sail with soy and corn from Mato Grosso and Pará. In 2014 it transported 836 thousand tons. The forecast is to reach two million tons this year and, in 2016, 3,5 million tons of grain.
For the time being, Amaggi has no concrete plans for another Amazon corridor, the Tocantins-Araguaia corridor. There are still navigability problems, says the executive. “We are not yet seeing positive expectations for carrying out the necessary works on the river”.
Source: Valor Econômico
By Bettina Barros
