Highway concessions expand their scope of action. After signing five new contracts this year, the length of highways managed by the private sector jumped from the 15,45 thousand kilometers previously computed by the Associação Brasileira de Concessões Rodoviárias (ABCR) to the level of 19,7 thousand kilometers. The agreements were signed for 30 years between the government and the concessionaires that won at the end of last year the auctions for five stretches crossing Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Goiás and the Federal District.
“With the new tenders, the federal government added 4.248 kilometers to the map of roads granted in the country”, confirms Natália Marcassa, director of the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT). Of these, 2.683 kilometers will be duplicated in the first five years of the contract, an investment of R$ 17,16 billion. “Over the 30 years, approximately R$ 30,43 billion will be invested by concessionaires.”
The five new concessions are part of the federal government's Integration and Logistics Program (PIL). In addition to these highways, ANTT has already announced the bidding process for the BR-153, in Tocantins, with an auction set for the next 23rd. contract, informs Natalia. The total investment, over the 624,8 years of the concession, will be R$ 598 billion.
This year, the Ministry of Transport also launched a public notice for companies to express interest in carrying out studies on five other road stretches: the Rio-Niterói Bridge (renewal, as the contract with CCR, the current concessionaire, expires in 2015) and four segments cutting Mato Grosso, Pará, Goiás, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. According to Natália, Rio-Niterói will be a 20-year concession and the other stretches, a 30-year contract. “A total of 2.592 kilometers are being studied for the bidding, with an expected duplication of 2.186 kilometers and investments of BRL 17,7 billion throughout the entire concession period.”
The choice of the roads that make up the PIL was based on the productive map of Brazil, both agricultural, mineral and industrial. “The main objective is to increase the integration between highways, railways, waterways, ports and airports”, says Natália, also commenting that in last year's highway auctions, two giants – Odebrecht and CCR – won concessions for important road segments of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul (the BR-163/MT remained with Odebrecht, and the BR-163/MS with CCR), strategic for the composition of an intermodal logistics mosaic that is taking shape to transport grain from the Midwest, the largest producing region in the country.
With the reiterated statements by President Dilma Rousseff that in 2014 another important stretch of the BR-163 will be granted – between Sinop (MT) and the port of Miritituba on the Tapajós River (PA) -, the logistical perspective of inversion of routes towards exporting ports. The future intermodal design that begins to emerge from heavy investments in the complex network of BR-163 and in waterways such as the Tapajós River, will allow greater emphasis to be placed on port terminals in the North region – such as Vila do Conde, in Pará , for example -, which will alleviate the current movement of cargo towards the ports of Santos (SP) and Paranaguá (PR).
The diversion of the grain flow route to the fluvial terminals of rivers in the Amazon basin – following in convoys of barges through this modal to the maritime ports of the North – is an old hope of the producers of Mato Grosso, who lose competitiveness due to the high freight costs to the Southeast and South ports.
According to Renato Mello, director of highways at Odebrecht Transport, the group's Rota do Oeste concessionaire will be responsible for duplicating, recovering, conserving, maintaining and implementing improvements to the BR-163 between the municipalities of Itiquira (MS) and Sinop (MT) , a stretch with a length of 850,9 kilometers. “The highway is currently the main means of transporting agricultural production in the Midwest and cuts through eight of the 15 largest municipalities in Mato Grosso, including Cuiabá, Várzea Grande and Rondonópolis”, he says.
In the first five years, when R$ 2,4 billion will be invested, Odebrecht has programmed the duplication of 453,6 kilometers between the border with Mato Grosso do Sul and Rondonópolis and the junction with the BR-364 to Sinop. Another 23,5 kilometers have already been duplicated and 365,6 are in the process of being duplicated under the responsibility of the National Department of Transport Infrastructure (Dnit). The contract provides for completion of works in up to five years. Mello says that the most complicated part – the environmental licensing process – proceeds at an accelerated pace, with the commitment of ANTT and the State Secretariat for the Environment of Mato Grosso.
The Rota 323 Consortium, also led by Odebrecht, won the concession for the maintenance and conservation of approximately 220 kilometers of the PR-323 Highway corridor, between Maringá and Francisco Alves, in Paraná, with a forecast of duplicating 207 kilometers, benefiting 14 municipalities in the northwest of that state. “It is the first public-private partnership [PPP] for people from Paraná”, he says. Over the 30 years of the concession, R$ 3,6 billion will be invested.
The president of CCR, Renato Vale informs that the group presented proposals in almost all bids last year. “We managed to win the concession, for 30 years, of a stretch of the BR-163 / MS”, he says. The company offered the lowest basic toll rate, R$ 4,38 for every 52,74 kilometers driven. “This meant a discount of XNUMX%, the highest among all bids.”
The BR-163/MS concession covers 847,2 km that cross all of Mato Grosso do Sul and reach the borders of Mato Grosso and Paraná. In this section, 20 municipalities in Mato Grosso do Sul are represented. “Around 4 jobs, both direct and indirect, should be generated locally through the activities of CCR MSVia”, anticipates Vale. The duplication works have already started.
In the first five years, R$ 3,4 billion will be invested in the complete duplication of the road. In all, nine toll plazas will be built. “The tariff collection, however, will only start at the beginning of 2015, after the execution of 10% of the total expected doubling”, clarifies the president of CCR. “At the same time, our professionals are conducting several studies to define the best ways to make the five new concession projects this year viable, including the Rio-Niterói Bridge itself, which is currently under our administration.”
Invepar is also analyzing new business opportunities this year. According to the new business director, Hilário Pereira, the company is assessing which lots are more attractive and viable to obtain an adequate return for shareholders. “The company is focusing on two or three highways in the new bidding stage and once the terms of the public notice are defined, it will make its decision whether or not to participate in the auctions”, he says. In last year's competitions, Invepar won the BR-040 concession (DF/GO/MG). “The total investment, over the 30 years of the contract, will be R$ 7,9 billion”, informs Pereira.
Source: Valor Econômico
By Juan Garrido | For Valor, from São Paulo
