Government receives project from Ferrogrão

Source: Valor Econômico

Luz Participações Station (EDLP) filed a request this week with the federal government to develop feasibility studies for a railroad between Lucas do Rio Verde (MT) and Miritituba (PA), using the stretch under the control of the BR-163 highway. The estimated investment in the undertaking is R$ 6 billion.

The intention is to take advantage of the logistical demand arising from the production of grains, especially soybeans, in the Center-West, through an export path towards the North of the country. The project follows the opposite path to the one existing today, towards the South, towards the ports of Santos (SP) and Paranaguá (PR).

The capacity of Ferrogrão – the name given to the railroad –, which has an estimated length of 1,2 kilometers from São Lucas do Rio Verde, would be around 60 million tons of grain per year. From Miritituba, the cargo would be taken on barges to terminals capable of receiving ships in Santarém, Itacoatiara and Barcarena (PA) and Santana (AP).

The route of the line would have started just yesterday and the “Ferrovia da Soja”, or Fico, which would connect the North-South to Lucas do Rio Verde, ends. This project, already launched by the government, is in the study phase to go to the bidding process.

EDLP requests that the Ministry of Transport call for the preparation of studies for the concession, which, according to the company, would grant the railroad concession later this year.

According to EDLP, run by businessman Guilherme Quintella, there is already an investment fund interested in participating in the project and others would be sought, including large contractor groups.

The businessman informs that, with Ferrogrão, Fico and ALL (which reaches Rondonópolis-MT), almost 100% of Mato Grosso's grain production (around 50 million tons) would be transported by rail network to 2020. The cost reduction of transport freight would be around 50% compared to road transport.

Quintella, who also presides over the International Union of Railways (UIC, in its French acronym) in Latin America, says that the project is considered one of the most important in the world due to its location in the region.

In a preliminary assessment by those involved, however, the project “competes” with the BR-163 highway, from the division of Mato Grosso with Pará. At the moment, the federal government is already putting into practice the logic of inverting the logistics chain of production in the Midwest through concessions for stretches of the main highway in the region. Two lots on BR-163, which go from Mato Grosso do Sul and go up to Mato Grosso, have already been auctioned and were bought by the CCR and Odebrecht groups, respectively.

This year, as announced a few days ago, the federal government also intends to grant the stretch of BR-163 between Mato Grosso and Pará. Thus, agricultural commodities could be taken to transshipment terminals for the northern waterways on duplicated roads after five years under private management. This is the term specified in the contracts.

The concession of the stretch to Pará, already announced, is still in the initial stage, without a public notice issued.