Brazil’s Valor da Logística Integrada, (VLI), a joint venture between Vale, Mitsui, and other shareholders, is planning to renew the Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica (FCA) railway concession in 2022.
The railway concession, which is used to transport steel and iron ore in Brazil, is valid until August 31, 2026. With the new application, VLI aims to renew it for another 30 years and is offering investments of BRL13.8bn ($2.6bn), Ernesto Pousada, president at VLI told the Brazilian media this week, adding that the company will invest BRL1.3bn in the project in 2021.
The public consultation of the process begins in January 2021 and a public hearing will be held on February 3, 2021, according to reports.
With an extension of 7,220km, the Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica railway passes through 316 municipalities in the states of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Sergipe, Goiás, Bahia, São Paulo and the Federal District.
Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica, which has 500 locomotives and 12,000 wagons transported 7.9mn mt of iron ore in 2018, according to the Brazilian government data.
Brazil’s iron ore and concentrates shipments rose by 87.3pc to $2.4bn in December, from $1.4bn in the same month of 2019, the country’s ministry of economy said in a statement on Dec 28.
Brazil’s crude steel production rose by11.2pc to 2.9mn mt in November this year, from 2.6mn mt produced in the same month the prior year, according to the latest World Steel Association data.