Rail Capacity Expanded in Brazil to Handle Record Soy Harvest
As the soybean harvest commences, VLI SA, a Brazilian logistics company, is investing US$48.5 million to increase capacity on its Ferrovia Norte-Sul railway that links the state of Tocantins in the center of the country to the northern port of Itaqui.
The investment will cover the purchase of 240 rail cars, an increase of approximately 10 percent, in support of the company’s strategy to boost traffic on its Center-North corridor which includes grain terminals at Porto Nacional and Palmeirante in the Tocantins, and Porto Franco in the state of Maranhão before grain reaches Itaqui for export.
The four states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia, referred to as Matopiba, accounts for about 11 percent of Brazil’s total soybean production, which is expected to reach a record 117.5 million tons this year, according to Agroconsult.
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