Rail companies VLI, Rumo, Petrocity to build 5 new railroads in Brazil

Brazil’s National Land Transportation Agency (ANTT) approved on Tuesday, October 25, five new contracts for constructing private railways costing BRL 16.7 billion in investments.

Two will be financed by Rumo, which will disburse a total of BRL 11.3 billion in the projects. At the same time, another two will fall under the responsibility of VLI, which intends to invest BRL 4.71 billion, and Petrocity will build the fifth railway for BRL 739 million. If the train tracks get off the ground, the routes will total more than a thousand new kilometers of railroads.

The Ministry of Infrastructure and ANTT have received 95 authorization requests for building new railways since the government issued, in August 2021, a provisional measure authorizing railway operation under a private regime.

According to ANTT director Luciano Lourenço, interested companies estimate a total investment of R$ 295 billion in the projects.

Twenty-seven of the total applications have so far resulted in contracts for railway authorization.

The Minister of Infrastructure, Marcelo Sampaio, recognized that all applications are viable to get off the ground –  a point often raised by players in the market, which fear a build-up of ‘paper railroads’ that will not bear fruits.

Last week, Sampaio assessed that the most advanced project is the one championed by Eldorado Celulose, which gained authorization to build a rail track between its factory in the city of Três Lagoas and Aparecida do Taboado.

Recently-approved projects

The five projects approved by ANTT on Tuesday were approved under the new legal framework for railways in force since January.

Rumo presented projects to build two stretches: one between Santa Rita do Trivelato (MT) and Sinop (MT), with 250 kilometers and planned investments of around R$ 3.8 billion, and another between Primavera do Leste (MT) and Ribeirão Cascalheira (MT), with 500 kilometers and an estimated 7.5 billion. The former should come into operation in 2041 and the latter in 2039.

VLI, another railroad operator with a great presence in the market, wants to build routes between São Desidério (BA) and Riachão das Neves (BA) – a 140-kilometer stretch costing R$ 2.96 billion in investments, which will start operating at the beginning 2030 – and between Correntina (BA) and Arrojolândia (BA), with 83 kilometers, R$ 1.75 billion of investments and operation scheduled to start also in 2030.

Petrocity Ferrovias, on the other hand, wants to undertake a 68-kilometer railroad between Corumbá de Goiás (GO) and Anápolis (GO), with R$ 739 million in planned investments and expected start-up in July 2028.

According to Lourenço, the rapporteur of three of the five projects, the Rumo-owned track between Primavera do Leste and Ribeirão Cascalheira will be aimed at transporting solid bulk, such as soybeans, corn, and fertilizers throughout seven municipalities in the state of Mato Grosso.

Grain, fertilizer, and cotton will be transported on the railroad that VLI plans to build between Riacho das Neves and São Desidério, which will also pass through three municipalities in Bahia. The Petrocity stretch will pass through three cities in Goiás, transporting containers, general cargo, bulk cargo, and grain.

Source: Canal Rural

To read the full original article, please go to: https://www.canalrural.com.br/noticias/economia/antt-aprova-projeto-de-5-ferrovias-da-vli-rumo-e-petrocity/

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