Port and railroad project in MA forecasts R$13bn of investments

According to Valor, Maranhão will be able to receive a new port terminal and a railroad to run the state’s grain and iron ore. Last year, the project had already received federal authorization and is now going through the analysis of its environmental licensing and the search for suppliers – R$12.87bn will be needed for construction, being R$8.5bn by 2024.

The venture was conceived by the company formed by Portuguese partners Grão Pará Multimodal (GPM), which has been working in infrastructure projects in Brazil for ten years.

The idea for the project came at the end of 2015, says João Prego, one of the shareholders and technical director. At the time, the partners identified an area in the municipality of Alcântara (neighboring the state capital, São Luís), with favorable conditions for the terminal: a 25-meter deep draft capable of receiving larger vessels and a broad canal, with room for maneuvering and transit independent of the other ports of the bay.

The businessmen also saw potential for the construction of a new railway extension, the Maranhão Railroad, which would be developed from the existing rail network in the region: the North-South railways and the Carajás Railroad.

The main projected load for the venture is iron ore from companies operating in the region, such as Vale.

The GPM project foresees that the port in Alcântara will be able to transport up to 140m tons per year of iron ore, bauxite, manganese, copper, and other loads. The company also plans to move up to 40m tons of grain – mainly soybeans, soybean meal, and corn – from the Matopiba region (confluence between Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia) and from the Midwest.

Source: Valor

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