Vitoria a Minas Railway

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Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) is a large mining company in Southern Brazil. In 1997, it was awarded the 30-year concession contract for the 898 km Vitoria a Minas railway line from its iron ore plant. CVRD uses this railway line to transport iron ore to the port terminal of Tubarao. It also operates one passenger service. In 1997, 1.49 million passengers and 106.86 million tons of freight were transported in the railway. CVRD was privatized on May 6, 1997. Since privatization, CVRD has made moves to opening its railway line to commercial freight services. The company awarded a $2.3 million upgrade contract to the US company Harmon Industries in August 1997; in 1998, the private sponsor planned to invest US$ 46.5 million in the railway (locomotives, parts, rolling stock and tracks). CVRD also use to have stakes in two consortia, Ferrovia Centro Atlantica (FCA) and Companhia Ferroviaria do Nordeste (CFN), that successfully bid for concessions to operate freight traffic on the Centro Atlantic and North East railway lines. In 2003, CVRD sold its stake in CFN to Cia Siderurgica Nacional and Grupo Vicunha. It also acquired Cia Siderurgica Nacional's stake in FCA. As of December 2003, CVRD was holding 99.99% of the total shares of FCA and had no stake in CFN. The investments undertaken by Vitoria Minas Railway year by year, were 1997 - US$ 70.2 million (R$ 78.4 million) 1998 – US$ 44 million (R$ 53.5 million) 1999 – US$ 24.8 million (R$ 44.8 million) 2000 – US$ 64.5 million (R$ 125.7 million) 2001 – US$ 48.8 million (R$ 108.5 million) 2002 - US$ 33 million (total investments in the three railways of CVRD - Carajas, Vitoria a Minas and Ferrovia Centro Atlantica) 2003 - US$ 274 million (total investments in the three railways of CVRD - Carajas, Vitoria a Minas and Ferrovia Centro Atlantica)