Cofco International’s new rail yard in Santos to redistribute existing lines

The Port of Santos will gain a rail yard in the region known as Paquetá, encompassing warehouses 7 to 9. The project will be developed by Cofco International. The new asset will redistribute the rail lines serving grain terminals from Outeirinhos to Ponta da Praia, including the company’s own terminal on the Right Bank of the Santos port complex.

Once the new infrastructure is completed, it will benefit the clustering process in this port region, which involves concentrating grain terminals in the same area. The project is a commitment made by the Chinese company, which leased STS11 for R$ 764.8 million in an auction held in 2022.

To develop the railway yard, the Port Authority of Santos terminated its contract with the University of São Paulo (USP), which had been granted the use of Warehouse 8. According to the termination notice published in the recent edition of the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU), the contract, established in 2013, was terminated last Thursday.

The agreement made a decade ago aimed to “use Warehouse 8 and its facilities to establish a Research and Extension Base for the university’s maritime teaching, research, extension, and logistics activities at the Port of Santos.” However, the contract termination was necessary “due to the need to remove Warehouse 8, as stipulated in the lease contract with Cofco International.”

The deadline for the completion of the Paquetá railway yard project has not been disclosed by either the Port Authority of Santos (APS) or the Chinese company.

STS11

According to APS, the area currently occupied by Cofco, as stipulated in the contract, covers 55,500 square meters, which includes the former Cereal Sul (Warehouse 13), Suzano (Warehouse 14), and Rodrimar (Warehouses III and VIII) terminals. Phase 1 also includes the current terminal occupied by Rishis, which is in the process of vacating. In the third year of the lease, Warehouse 12A will be added, increasing the terminal to 98,000 square meters.

“[The terminal] will be used for handling vegetable bulk goods (soybeans, soymeal, corn, sugar, and wheat). The lessee will operate the asset for 25 years, with the possibility of successive extensions up to a maximum of 70 years, at the sole discretion of the granting authority. The contractual value is R$ 10 million in grant fees, R$ 3.7 million per month as fixed rent for the use of the area, and R$ 5.63 per ton of cargo handled,” APS stated in a release.

In a separate statement, Cofco International reported that it began construction of the new terminal at the Port of Santos in August of last year. According to the company, the facility will have a static storage capacity of “over 490,000 tonnes, generating more than 480 direct jobs. STS11 will have two exclusive berths for ship docking.”

The company also stated that STS11 is expected to commence operations in 2025, reaching its full capacity in 2026, when it “will expand the company’s port capacity in Brazil to 14 million tonnes and support plans to increase the country’s exports.”

Source: A Tribuna

To read the original news report, click on: https://www.atribuna.com.br/noticias/portomar/patio-ferroviario-esta-em-construcao-no-porto-de-santos-e-vai-redistribuir-linhas

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