VLI’s Tocantins terminals celebrate 320% growth in cargo throughput

VLI’s inland terminals in Porto Nacional and Palmeirante, in Tocantins state, have handled about 59 million tonnes of cargo over a decade of operations, according to figures released by the company. Between 2016, when the facilities began operating, and 2025, throughput rose from 1.9 million tonnes to 8 million tonnes, an increase of 320%.

Focused mainly on agribusiness, the two terminals handle soybeans, corn, meals and fertilizers and play a dual role in regional logistics: they transfer cargo from road to rail and provide storage capacity for producers. The facilities were built with investments of more than 260 million reais, in values at the time.

The two units form part of VLI’s Northern Corridor, which combines the northern stretch of the North-South Railway, operated by the company since it was created in 2010, and the Carajás Railway, used under trackage rights through to the port system of São Luís. In the Maranhão capital, the company operates the São Luís Port Terminal at the Port of Itaqui, from where commodities are shipped for export.

Growth in throughput at the Tocantins terminals has tracked the expansion of rail operations along the corridor. Between 2016 and 2025, rail volumes recorded by the company on the route rose from 5.4 billion to 14.9 billion tonne-kilometers, the metric that measures cargo moved relative to distance traveled.

Beyond cargo flows, VLI says the terminals have helped drive industrialization in Tocantins, especially in the northern part of the state, through the TIPA complex. According to the company, the project was structured around joint investments of 400 million reais by VLI and COPI, Companhia Operadora Portuária do Itaqui, to enable a fertilizer flow between São Luís and Palmeirante.

The company says that structure also paved the way for new projects in areas surrounding the terminal. Among the examples cited are Mosaic, which invested 400 million reais in a fertilizer plant, and Ultracargo, which built a fuel distribution unit with an investment of about 160 million reais. According to VLI, that arrangement helped form an integrated chain aimed at regional agribusiness.

On the operational front, Porto Nacional is described by the company as the main gateway for regional output into VLI’s Northern system. The unit has static storage capacity of 60,000 tonnes, can unload up to 20 trucks per hour and has a rail loop capable of loading 80 wagons in about four and a half hours. Palmeirante, in turn, has static capacity of 98,000 tonnes, in addition to warehouse and silo structures, three rail scales and four truck tipplers. Like the Porto Nacional terminal, it also operates with a rail loop for shipments.

The company’s statement also highlighted initiatives tied to its environmental, social and professional training agenda in the region. One of them is LabCerrado, developed in partnership with Embrapa Cerrados, focused on regenerative agriculture and the recovery of degraded land. According to VLI, trials carried out in Tocantins outperformed the regional average even under adverse conditions linked to the 2023/2024 El Niño and contributed to a harvest 110,000 tonnes above forecast in the 2024/2025 crop season.

On workforce development, the company said it maintains a partnership with Senai to offer technical courses aimed at the logistics segment, especially rail and port operations. In the past year alone, more than 50 places were opened for an industrial electrician course in Luzimangues, where the Porto Nacional terminal is located, and in Colinas, near Palmeirante.

VLI also cited initiatives under its Environmental Action program, focused on environmental education and the rational use of resources, as well as the shipment, since 2024, of recyclable waste generated at Porto Nacional to the local waste pickers’ association. According to the company, the initiative is now being replicated at Palmeirante, with support for the formation of a waste pickers’ association in Colinas.

Source: VLI Logística