EF-170/MT/PA Railway (Ferrogrão)

active

EF-170, also called Ferrogrão, was qualified in the Investment Partnership Program (PPI) at the 1st Meeting of the PPI Council, through Resolution No. 2, of 13/09/2016, converted into Decree 8,916, of 25 /11/2016. The project aims to consolidate Brazil's new rail export corridor through Arco Norte. The railway is 933 km long, connecting the grain-producing region of the Center-West to the State of Pará, ending at the Port of Miritituba. Also planned are the Santarenzinho branch, between Itaituba and Santarenzinho, in the municipality of Rurópolis/PA, with 32 km, and the Itapacurá branch, with 11 km. When completed, Ferrogrão will have high transport capacity and competitiveness in the flow of production through Arco Norte, a role that is currently played by the BR-163 highway. The corridor to be consolidated by EF-170 and the BR-163 highway will consolidate a new route for the export of soybeans and corn in Brazil. The project will alleviate traffic conditions on this highway, with the aim of reducing the flow of heavy trucks and conservation and maintenance costs. By alleviating truck traffic on BR-163, rail freight transport has a high potential for reducing carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels. This reduction potential allows the enterprise to meet assumptions guided by the Climate Bonds Initiative – CBI to allow future issuances of green bonds via credit instruments. The project addresses the expansion of the Brazilian agricultural frontier and the demand for an integrated cargo transport infrastructure. The project is an important factor in the development of the logistical infrastructure of agricultural areas located in the State of Mato Grosso, enabling the region to achieve greater efficiency in the flow of production, at lower logistical costs, promoting significant gains in productivity and reducing the need to open new areas. The stretch will play a structuring role in transporting the production of corn, soybeans and soybean meal from the State of Mato Grosso, with plans also to transport soybean oil, fertilizers, sugar, ethanol and petroleum derivatives. Today, more than 70% of Mato Grosso's harvest is transported through the ports of Santos/SP and Paranaguá/PR, more than two thousand kilometers from its origin. This scenario shows the relevance of the project within the country's cargo logistics system, being a differentiator for its attractiveness to potential investors. To model the concession, the vertical railway exploration model is being adopted, in which a single company is responsible for managing the infrastructure and providing the transport service. As it is a project planned to be implemented parallel to BR-163, the railway will be able to fulfill an important inhibitory factor against deforestation, as it blocks the opening of branches to BR (herringbone effect) on this side of the highway, when implemented. Along its proposed route, the railway does not intersect conservation units or indigenous lands. The closest indigenous lands are the Praia do Meio and Praia do Índio Indigenous Lands, located in the final portion of the route, close to the city of Itaituba (left bank of the Tapajós River). These legally protected areas are, respectively, 4 and 7 km from the end point of the project, in Miritituba (right bank of the Tapajós River). In relation to conservation units, it appears that the Jamanxim National Park is the one in which the project comes closest to its limits, being located in the area excluded from the limits of the UC when it was created (decree s/n of 12 /02/2006) or in the change of limits (law no. 13,452/2016), which expanded the BR-163 right-of-way to establish the railway route. Another integral protection unit present in the area of direct influence of the project is the Nascentes da Serra do Cachimbo Biological Reserve, located approximately 2.3 km away from the proposed route guideline. Link Studies: https://participantt.antt.gov.br/Site/AudienciaPublica/VisualizarAvisoAudienciaPublica.aspx?CodigoAudiencia=176 For more information, see the roadshow report, opposite.