First 100,00 tonnes of fertilizers travel through new Arco Norte rail corridor

The government of Maranhão participated in a ceremony on Wednesday (14) to celebrate the first 100,000 tonnes of fertilizers transported through the new Arco Norte railway corridor, which connects the Port of Itaqui in São Luís, Maranhão, to Palmeirante in Tocantins.

The project required an investment of approximately R$ 400 million made by VLI and COPI. The train now departs from the Port of Itaqui carrying fertilizers to Palmeirante and returns with grains, a logistics operation that will invigorate the entire agricultural sector in the region.

The celebration took place at the headquarters of the Maranhão-state port administration company EMAP. It was attended by the governors of Maranhão, Carlos Brandão, and Tocantins, Wanderlei Barbosa, as well as the Minister of Ports and Airports, Márcio França, the interim CEO and Executive Director of Finance, Supply Chain, and Services of VLI, Fábio Marchiori, and the CEO of COPI, Guilherme Eloy.

According to Minister Márcio França, the integration of a public port as efficient as Itaqui with the new railway corridor will bring growth.

“In addition to being well-managed, Itaqui has a natural depth that other ports do not have, making it a port suitable for the loading and unloading minerals, fuels, grains, and fertilizers on a large scale,” explained the minister.

New Arco Norte Corridor

The new railway corridor can handle up to 1.5 million tonnes of fertilizers per year, meeting the growing demand for inputs in the Arco Norte region of the country. Operational tests were conducted in late 2022; in 2023, over 100,000 tonnes of fertilizer inputs have already been transported. The Arco Norte Corridor was designed to serve producers in Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Bahia, Piauí, Tocantins, Maranhão, and the Federal District.

See below Brazil’s imports of fertilizers between Jan 2019 and Apr 2023, according to the DataLiner maritime data service.

Fertilizer imports | Jan 2019 – Apr 2023 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

The new logistics corridor is the first step towards a significant regional transformation that will culminate in the creation of a large industrial hub at the Palmeirante Terminal (TIPA), which covers an area of approximately 230 hectares and offers leasing opportunities for players in the fertilizer industry, agribusiness traders, and other sectors interested in the area.

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