Rumo and CHS sign a joint venture to build and operate a railroad terminal in Tocantins

Rumo and CHS Agronegócio do Brasil, an agribusiness company owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives in the United States, formalized a joint venture for the development of a multimodal grain storage and transhipment terminal, located in Alvorada (TO). The project includes the transformation of the current road transhipment warehouse whose static capacity is 75 thousand tons of grain. The site is properly equipped with a structure for drying and standardization, including unloading trucks through dumpers. Based on the partnership, a railway return loop will be built, allowing the connection with the Central Network (North-South Railway), which has just been 100% completed by the concessionaire.

The choice of Alvorada (TO) represents a strategic step towards attracting cargo seeking connections with Brazilian ports. With an initial vocation for transporting soybeans and corn, and in the future bran, this is the first terminal to mark the expansion of the Rumo Malha Central (North-South Railway) in Tocantins after the conclusion of the railway works. In addition, the municipality is considered the main point of loading and unloading of grains in the southern region of the state and has excellent conditions to receive flows from western Bahia and eastern Mato Grosso.

“The structure in Alvorada represents yet another step forward in the country’s logistical development”, points out Rumo’s commercial vice-president, Pedro Palma. “We are honored to sign a new partnership with CHS, with whom since 2021 we have a fertilizer terminal in Rio Verde (GO), through Andali. Our goal is to provide more efficient cargo transport and generate competitiveness for local producers, encouraging production growth”.

According to the Vice President of Global Grain & Processing for CHS in South America, Horacio Ackermann, the choice of the municipality of Alvorada for structuring the multimodal storage and transshipment terminal represents a strategic step towards attracting cargo seeking connections with the Brazilian ports. “The city was chosen for its strategic geographic position, its relevance for agribusiness, and for having an important client portfolio already consolidated by the players involved in the partnership”, he says.

“Alvorada is naturally destined to be the main point of loading and unloading of grains in the southern region of Tocantins, it is an important municipality, as it has excellent conditions to receive flows from Bahia and eastern Mato Grosso. This growth in the regions will maximize the total capacity of Brazilian ports, reducing the logistical bottleneck for agribusiness”, points out Ackermann.

The asset will be jointly operated by Rumo and CHS, focusing on the agricultural market and following the concept of all terminals in the Central Network: white flag and pooled. All customers make a single stock, depositing and mixing their products according to the previous quality classification. The terminal will handle the volumes of CHS and all those interested in moving grains (soybeans and corn) in the region.

The infrastructure will be implemented in an area of approximately 70 hectares, with emphasis on the construction of a railway return loop. The structure will have state-of-the-art equipment and will be able to load an average of 12 wagons per hour, and can load up to 2 trains per day. The adequacy and construction works will generate around 150 direct jobs. For the operation of the terminal, 65 professionals will be employed directly.

“The terminal will handle the volumes of CHS and all those interested in moving soy and corn grains in the region. In this way, it will provide greater competitiveness for agribusiness, based on the possibility of connection with the North of Brazil and with the Port of Santos under the sub-concession of Rumo Malha Central”, explains João Baptistella, Commercial, Logistics and Operations Director at CHS Brasil.

The joint venture between the two companies was approved by CADE – Administrative Council for Economic Defense in June. As a result, the works should start in the second half of 2023 and the forecast is that in the second quarter of 2024 the terminal will receive the first train composition.

“We are talking about a multimodal infrastructure with the capacity to move about 1.5 million tons of grain per year to the Port of Santos (SP), after the planned expansion and adaptation works”, explains Palma. “We are going to strengthen participation in the local agricultural market and promote geographic diversification into a region with great potential for market development”.

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