Porto Murtinho (MS) undergoes transformation

The city of Porto Murtinho  (460 km from Campo Grande) and the border of Mato Grosso do Sul with Paraguay are becoming a construction site. The reason is that the region will have a bold intermodal transportation system for the flow of agricultural production through the Bioceanic Corridor, to the ports of Chile (Pacific), and the Paraguay River Waterway, towards Argentina (Atlantic). More than R$650m will be injected in the municipality in two years.

“Porto Murtinho will be our new Paranaguá,” projects Jaime Verruck, Secretary of Environment, Economic Development, Production, and Family Farming (Semagro). “The development of the region is concrete, has a schedule, and is happening, driven by the tax incentives of the Export and Import Stimulation Program, created by the government in 2015, and by public investments to make the Biocean Route possible.”

The expectation is that the capacity of river flow of commodities of the municipality, which today is 460,000 tons/year, will be expanded to 6m tons/year in the medium term, according to the state government. “Mato Grosso do Sul will be the new logistics hub for South America,” says Governor Reinaldo Azambuja. “This logistical expansion is fundamental because the state should increase the planted area by another 1.5m hectares in 10 years.”

The prospect of reducing distances and transportation costs, boosting regional production in international markets with the construction of the bridge over the Paraguay River, also increases the interest of consumer centers, such as the Asian one, Mato Grosso do Sul’s main market.

The Bioceanic Corridor will reduce by 17 days the travel of commodities from Mato Grosso do Sul to the Asian market, boarding at the ports of Chile instead of using the ports of Paranaguá (PR) or Santos (SP). Paraguay launched the bidding for the bridge’s executive project in July, which will begin in 2020 and will be completed in three years, at a cost of R$290m. The 680m structure will be installed at km 1032 of the Paraguay River Waterway.

The neighboring country is also fulfilling the agreement to make the new route viable with the 497 km asphalting of the Chaco Highway (Pantanal), from Carmelo Peralta to the border with Argentina. The first stretch, which is 227 km long, follows its schedule on two fronts – Carmelo Peralta and Loma Plata -, with the predicted completion of the first lot in September, which is 24 km long. The work executed by the Corredor Vial Oceânico Consortium (Queiróz Galvão and Ocho A) will cost US$420m.

With the construction of three new ports and the prospect of a fourth, of a group from Paraná, more than R$450m will be injected in Porto Murtinho. Adding the State and Union investments in infrastructure, it reaches the amount of R$650m, in addition to the resources not yet estimated by the Dnit (National Department of Transport Infrastructure) to expand the BR 267 runway.

One of the state’s largest exporters (1.2m tons/year of soybeans and corn), FV Cereais, based in Dourados, is investing R$110m in the terminal, which will have the capacity to handle 2m tons/year of grains and sugar. The group will also import fertilizers from Uruguay, where it has already shipped a 2,000-ton experimental cargo in 2018, 8% cheaper than the cost of transportation via Port of Paranaguá.

The port construction company works on several fronts with 70 workers and has started the assembly of the bulk warehouse structure for 30,000 tons. On the other side of the city, the Mécari Distribuidora group is investing R$16m in the construction of the station to regulate the flow of cargo to the port terminals, expected to double vehicle capacity in the medium term. The structure will feature a 120-bed hotel, a mini mall, and a gas station.

Source: Enfoque MS

Sharing is caring!