STF seals the future of Ferrogrão, BRL 21 billion project – 05/21/2023 – Panel SA

About to have its destiny defined by the Supreme Court, the Ferrogrão project —a 933 km railway that will transport Mato Grosso’s soybean crop to river ports in the North— is the first major infrastructure project to receive the green light from both the Ministry of the Environment , and the Ministry of Agriculture.

The impasse surrounding the project will be decided by the Supreme Court at the end of the month, when the preliminary injunction by Minister Alexandre de Moraes will be judged.

At the request of PSOL, he cautiously suspended the concession of the work to the private sector in 2021.

The Ministry of the Environment states that the project will have a positive environmental impact. This is because Ferrogrão will reduce the flow of cargo on BR-163, the main corridor between the Midwest and the North.

The folder estimates that the emission of pollutants from trucks and the disorderly occupation on the route would be reduced with the establishment of the railroad.

The Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, publicly stated that he defends the project as a way to increase the flow of cargo from the Midwest, both through the ports in the North and through Santos (SP).

Defending the work, the CNA (National Confederation of Agriculture) told the Supreme Court that Ferrogrão will operate with trains of 160 wagons capable of transporting 100 tons each. There will be three locomotives, with four engines each.

According to the entity’s accounts, each trip will replace the equivalent of 400 trucks currently transporting cargo.

This week, however, the Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sônia Guajajara, who is from the PSOL, sent a letter to the AGU (Attorney General of the Union) asking the body to demonstrate against the construction of Ferrogrão.

In the document, she states that the railway will have an impact on the region’s original populations and that intervention in the area needs congressional approval.

The situation caused embarrassment in the Plateau. The project has the personal endorsement of President Lula. The Minister of Transport, Renan Filho, has already publicly stated that the president’s order is to take the project forward to improve the performance of the Brazilian crop.

The estimate, made in 2020, is that the work, with total investments of BRL 21.5 billion, borne by the private sector, will generate more than 424,000 jobs in 69 years (nine of construction and 60 of operation).

Initially, the trains are expected to carry around 21.2 million tonnes (in the first year) and 46.9 million in the twentieth year.

The controversy over Ferrogrão involves the suppression of part of the Jamanxim National Park. A provisional measure sent in November 2016 by then-president Temer to Congress authorized the removal of 464 hectares to support the railroad layout.

On the other hand, it added another 51,000 hectares to the protected area. Congress converted the measure into law in June 2017.

However, more than three years later, in September 2020, PSOL questioned the act at the Supreme Court, claiming that the change in the park should have been proposed to Congress via a bill, and not by MP. Minister Alexandre de Moraes granted the injunction in March 2021.

With Diego Felix

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