Giants get together to invest US$ 3.5 billion in ethanol transportation
Valor Econômico
Petrobras, Copersucar, Cosan, Odebrecht, Camargo Corrêa and Uniduto Logística announced the formation of Logum Logística, created for the construction, development and operation of a fuel transportation system that will include the pipeline, waterways, highways and coastal shipping. The projection is to invest R$ 6 billion (US$ 3.5 billion) until 2020 for the construction of pipelines, waterways and terminals to flow the ethanol production from regions of Goiás, São Paulo and Minas Gerais to the coast of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The goal of the partners is to reach an average reduction of 20% in the costs with transport, which is currently made mainly by trucks.
The multimodal system will have capacity to carry up to 21 billion liters of ethanol a year. The first section to be built will be from Ribeirão Preto to Paulinia, in São Paulo, at an estimate cost of R$ 900 million (US$ 529.4 million) whose operational start is planned for 2012. The CEO of Logum, Alberto Guimarães, pointed out that there is already a financing proposal qualified by the National Development Bank (BNDES) for up to 80% of the value of the entire project for the eligible items and the expectation of the company is that the support institution approves the resources still in 2011 or in early 2012.
Guimarães said the total capacity of the system will be the double of the production foreseen for the partners of the project in 2020 and he assured the goal will not be the cater only to the member companies, but anyone interested in transporting cargo through the ducts. "Additional cargo is always welcome. The company was projected and developed to cater to the market and not only to its owners. The company will take higher flights and become a market company", said Marcos Lutz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Logum and representative of Cosan.
The investments required for the development of the operation shall be made to the extent of the paid-up shares in the company. Petrobras, Copersucar, Cosan and Odebrecht Transport Participações (OTP) have each, 20% of the capital of Logum, while Camargo Correa Óleo e Gás and Uniduto Logística have 10% of the capital each.
The ducts for the first phase of the project have already been purchased and the works on the connection between Ribeirão Preto and Paulinia will begin in April, together with the dry period. Camargo Corrêa and Odebrecht already were hired to perform the works of the first phase. "Hardly will be seen an investment of Camargo Corrêa in which it is not in the two ends (operation and construction). That decreases the risk", said Eduardo Leite, commercial officer of Camargo Corrêa. For Lutz, when the system is operating at full capacity it will mean a reduction of transport costs of up to R$ 80 million (US$ 47.1 million) a year for Cosan.