08/06/2008 11h32
Alcohol plants change road by rail
O Estado de S. Paulo - 08/06/2008
One year and a half after intense negotiations, América Latina Logística (ALL) - company that purchased the old
Brasil Ferrovias and has most of the railroads of the Country - managed to convince the fuel alcohol producers to replace the trucks by the tracks. From the fourth quarter of this year on, part of the ethanol produced in Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo will be carried, for the first time, through the railroad, after decades of domain of the road modal in the sector. The person in charge of the unit of liquids of ALL, Eduardo Fares, explains that the deal involves heavy names of the sugar and alcohol sector, such as Coopersucar, Cosan, CrystaSev, Usinas Guarani, Grupo Moema, Grupo Cerradinho, Usinas Coruripe and Usina São Martinho, besides the fuel distributors. ALL expects to carry nearly 1 million cubic meters (m³) of alcohol intended for the consumer market of São Paulo and region within next year, reaching 2 million m³ in 2010. Fares explains that one of the main challenges was convincing the producers to change the transport matrix and investing in infrastructure. Unlike truck transportation, railroad transportation requires loading and unloading structure. In this project, it will be required to construct 11 collecting centers in the São Paulo regions of Fernandópolis, São José do Rio Preto, Uchoa, Araraquara, Pradópolis, Passagem, Bauru, Araçatuba and Andradina, in addition to Alto Taquari, in Mato Grosso, and Chapadão do Sul, in Mato Grosso do Sul. The project also requires the construction of infrastructure for unloading and a railroad branch in the
Planalto Paulista Refinery (Replan), in Paulínia, interior of São Paulo. Altogether, producers, distributors and ALL will invest R$ 104 million (US$ 66.2 million) to make the ethanol railroad transportation viable. From that amount, R$ 70 million (US$ 44.6 million) have already left the coffers of the company for the purchase of 250 tank wagons. According to Fares, the partnership with producers and distributors will also allow the improvement of the productivity of the company. That is so because, currently, ALL carries 170 thousand m³ of diesel and gasoline a month from Replan to the interior of SP, MS and MT. The wagons that traveled loaded only in one stretch now will travel full in both. The officer points out that, in this operation, railroad transportation can be 40% cheaper than the road transportation. The deal is part of the strategy of ALL to expand the railroad modal in the Mid-southern part of the Country. Since it purchased
Brasil Ferrovias, in May, 2006, ALL already conquered several spaces dominated by the trucks. Among the cargo that has been included in its portfolio are corn, cement, slag, limestone, wood logs and steel bobbins. Next year, the company will also carry pulp from VCP. There are also studies for transportation of cold cargo in this area of concession.
