Minister signs cooperation agreement for concessions on Tocantins and Tapajós rivers

The Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement (ACT) on Tuesday (30), allowing concession studies for the waterways of the Tocantins and Tapajós rivers. This partnership was signed with the National Waterborne Transportation Agency (Antaq) and the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES). The initiative is part of the waterway sector’s plan to identify, develop, and monitor public-private partnerships to overcome infrastructure bottlenecks in the country’s waterways.

This unprecedented initiative in the country has been structured with support from private institutions. The Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor), in collaboration with Antaq, has prioritized addressing waterway bottlenecks, a logistical alternative with the potential to accommodate millions of tons of grain in Brazil’s northern axis. Currently, the country has over 20,000 kilometers of navigable waterways. With the concession of the rivers, navigation capacity is expected to double in the coming years.

Costa Filho highlighted that the two recently signed projects add to a list of four others: Lagoa Mirim in Rio Grande do Sul, Barra do Norte at the mouth of the Amazon River, Madeira, and Paraguay.

The announced projects are part of the federal government’s efforts to grant waterway concession contracts, included in the General Waterway Concession Plan, published at the end of last year by MPor. The plan’s main objective is to increase Brazil’s competitiveness and bolster economic development.

Eduardo Nery, the general director of Antaq, emphasized the importance of the partnership in formulating an efficient project that meets the sector’s needs. “Together with BNDES, we will try to find the economic model that will bring the best return. Today, we are finalizing a cooperation agreement, but the contracting of these two projects is already in the final phase. BNDES is already selecting the company to start the project,” he indicated.

The stretches of the Tocantins River that can be developed extend for 1,282 kilometers between Belém in Pará and Peixe in Tocantins. On the Tapajós River, BNDES’ preliminary assessment indicated that 700 kilometers could be developed in two main stretches: from Barcarena to Melgaço and from Santarém to Tapajós, both in Pará. BNDES Planning Director Nelson Barbosa states, “With the development of these projects, the waterways will have better conditions for transporting grains, iron ore, liquid bulk, containerized cargo, and other goods.”

The projects have the potential to boost the economies of the states and benefit the entire logistics chain, from large operators to fishermen and riverside populations. “We hope that, with these concession projects, we will bring in the private sector to achieve greater efficiency in providing the service and offer users other transportation options without incurring costs to society,” explained Dino Antunes, National Secretary of Waterways and Navigation at MPor.

The Tapajós waterway is a crucial corridor between the Center-West and the North of Brazil. The lower Tapajós, between Itaituba (PA) and Santarém (PA), has 280 km of navigable length throughout the year and was responsible for the movement of more than 14 million tonnes of cargo in 2023, mainly soybeans and other agricultural products, in addition to facilitating the transportation of grains and fuel.

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