Randon announces new plant in Araraquara
Revista Ferroviária
Randon announced on this Monday (December 10) the building of a new car and sugarcane semitrailer plant in Araraquara, in the state of São Paulo. It will be invested $240.53 million in the plant to be installed in an area of one million square meters, where the track granted to ALL passes through. It is expected that construction of the new structure started within a year and work will take two years.
According to the president of the company Randon, David Abramo Randon, the planned capacity of the plant for 2017, when it will be fully operational, is to produce up to 800 cars per year. Currently, the company structure in Caxias do Sul (state of Rio Grande do Sul) has the capacity to produce up to 1,200 cars per year. The new unit will complement the structure of the Caxias do Sul plant.
Randon evaluated other cities in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais to install its new plant. Araraquara was chosen because it has an infrastructure that meets the demands of Randon, with rail and road access, and for being a sugarcane hub.
The city offered the group the transfer of land, exemption from property tax (IPTU) for 10 years, exemption from service tax (ISS) during the works and is evaluating the transfer of part of the value-added tax (ICMS). The city already has a plant of Iesa, which partners with Hitachi for the production of trains. The Government of the State of São Paulo also granted tax incentives, such as exemption from ICMS.
During the signing of the letter of intent, at Bandeirantes Palace in São Paulo, Governor Geraldo Alckmin emphasized that companies are investing in logistics and that “rail transport is the way to have more logistics efficiency.”
The mayor of Araraquara, Marcelo Barbieri, highlighted that it is time to rescue the railroad history in the city. He noted that in addition to Randon, Iesa is installed in the city and in April 2013 the multimodal terminal of Tutoia yard should be ready, a work of the Brazilian Growth Acceleration Program (PAC - Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento) that connects two branches of ALL.
The investment in the new unit is part of the company’s development plan 2012/2016, with contributions of around $1.20 billion.