North-South Railway is delivered after almost 4 decades – 06/15/2023 – Market

The most emblematic railway project in the country in recent decades, the North-South railway will have its central and south sections delivered this Friday (16), putting into operation a route operated by Rumo with 1,537 kilometers of tracks between Estrela D’Oeste (SP ) and Porto Nacional (TO), which passes through four of the five regions of the country.

Norte-Sul is a railroad whose history has been going on since the 1980s and which has now finally been completed. On May 13, 1987, the Sheet published a report by Janio de Freitas that showed that the competition for the construction of the railroad had been a farce. In encrypted form, the results of the winning companies had been published five days earlier.

Since then, governments have failed to complete the construction of the railroad, which by 2017 had already consumed R$33 billion in corrected amounts –of which at least a third, according to inspection bodies, had been overpriced–, until in 2019 the Rumo was victorious in an auction with a bid of R$ 2.7 billion (R$ 3.5 billion, corrected by the IPCA), considered aggressive and which exceeded the R$ 2.1 billion (R$ 2.72 billion today) offered by VLI – there were only two participants in the dispute. The concession is valid for 30 years.

The North-South railway is essential for the country’s railway development as it is considered a backbone of the system, as it passes through the Midwest, North, Southeast and Northeast regions and allows the connection between the ports of Itaqui (MA) and Santos, through rails operated by three concessionaires.

The northern section of the railroad, between Porto Nacional and Açailândia (MA), is managed by VLI, and, from Açailândia to the port of Itaqui, by Vale, through Estrada de Ferro Carajás. With the stretch managed by VLI, the Norte-Sul road has a total length of 2,257 kilometers.

The delivery this Friday, in Rio Verde (GO), one of the richest agribusiness cities in the country, will feature President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and takes place just over two years after his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro (PL) , inaugurate the first section of Rumo’s North-South network, between São Simão (GO) and Estrela D’Oeste.

According to the concessionaire, R$ 4 billion were invested in infrastructure works, terminals and rolling stock.

Four terminals came into operation in the last two years to transport agricultural production, in São Simão (grains and soybean meal), Rio Verde (two, one for grains and one for fertilizers) and in Iturama (VHP sugar).

Also according to Rumo, the concessionaire handled 4.1 million tons of grains (soybeans, bran and corn) exported by Goiás in 2022, 25.6% of the total of 16.1 million tons.

The construction of terminals and infrastructure works in Goiás, Minas Gerais and São Paulo generated more than 5,000 direct and indirect jobs, according to the concessionaire.

The sector’s evaluation is that the full operation of Norte-Sul will allow cargo from states like Minas and Goiás, with no outlet to the sea, to be disposed of more efficiently.

The Iturama terminal, in Triângulo Mineiro, started operating in June last year and marked Rumo’s entry into the Minas Gerais market, in partnership with Usina Coruripe, one of the largest sugar and ethanol groups in the country.

The expectation is also that the participation of the railway modal in the transport of cargo in the country will grow. Railroads are responsible for transporting 21.5% of cargo in Brazil, a rate much lower than that of countries such as the USA (43%) and Russia (81%), according to data from ANTF (National Association of Rail Transporters).

The journalist traveled at the invitation of Rumo