VLI launches new multimodal operation in the state of Maranhão

VLI’s services to customers in the northernmost half of Brazil have been enhanced by the launch of the company’s new operation, the Porto Franco Integrating Terminal (TIPF). Located in the state of Maranhão, the road-railway unit – which reinforces the company’s multimodal vein – can receive truckloads for storage and transfer them to rail tracks headed to the São Luís port system. VLI already has two other terminals in that region, in Palmeirante and Porto Nacional, in the state of Tocantins.

“We hope to see TIPF filling the lack experienced by our customers who produce cargo in the Porto Franco region but do not have where to store them before sending them to the port for export,” said the director of VLI Operations in the Center-North Corridor, Daniel Schaffazick.

The facility has a metallic reservoir with a capacity of 18,000 tonnes, a grain warehouse with a capacity of 5.5 thousand tonnes, a support reservoir with a capacity of 700 tonnes, and a railway granary with a capacity of containing 800 tonnes per hour that is in charge of transferring the stored cargo to the wagons. Corn and soybeans from the states of Maranhao, Pará, and Piauí are two of the major cargo loads that will move through the TIPF. About 600,000 tonnes will flow through the railway each year.

The terminal concession contract was signed in June 2021, providing that the facility will be operated by VLI for the next 15 years, with the possibility of renewal for another five years. The planned investments – including contractual obligations, adaptation, and capacitation of the terminal – will total more than R$ 20 million during the contract term. VLI has also been carrying out training for local suppliers to stimulate the region’s economy.

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