With the advances made in the project to expand the rail network for cargo transport throughout the State of Paraná, the productive sector is turning its attention to the other end of the logistics chain: the port. The potential for movement of Paraná ports, in the most diverse segments, was debated, this Wednesday (15), throughout the morning, at a meeting that brought together the State Government, private initiative and the Federal Government, at the Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná (Fiep), in Curitiba.
“The government has constantly been in dialogue with the entire productive sector of Paraná for this construction of the new infrastructure in our State. This dialogue has been intermodal”, said the Secretary of State for Infrastructure and Logistics, Sandro Alex.
According to him, the results achieved by the ports of Paranaguá and Antonina are the result not only of the work and dedication of Paraná workers, but also a combination of all the logistics and infrastructure that have been developed in the state. “Whether by road, train or air, they all reach the ports,” said the secretary. “And the State Government has been working precisely on designing this Hub, due to the logistical characteristics of Paraná”, adds Alex, highlighting the advances not only in the Nova Ferroeste project, but also in the process for new highway concessions.
According to the director-president of Portos do Paraná, Luiz Fernando Garcia, the ports, on the other hand, have also been preparing for all this advance in the infrastructure of the State, as he presented at the Fiep event. “The port needs to be prepared to improve the condition of receiving these cargoes. The main means is to promote an improvement in the railway condition”.
Garcia says that today the volume of cargo that arrives by rail at the ports of Paraná is not as expressive as it may be. “Whenever we manage to improve – and the hopper project is fundamental for this railway reception, with the tenders for the new terminals, we will certainly be able to meet all the future demand that is being projected”.
According to him, current investments in the development of the ports of Paraná are taking place simultaneously on three fronts: land, maritime and storage infrastructure (with new leases). The objective, in general, is not only to increase capacity, but also to reduce costs to the productive sector, which increases the State’s competitiveness.
In this line, in addition to the Moegão project – referring to the expansion of railway unloading capacity in an exclusive hopper to serve the modal – the New Export Corridor project is also worth mentioning, which will greatly increase the capacity to transport solid bulk; the project for the concession of the maritime access channel; continued maintenance dredging; and the demolition of the shallowest portion of the rock mass known as Pedra da Palangana.
RAILWAY – The Nova Ferroeste project, also presented on the agenda of the meeting at Fiep, is the new 1,304-kilometer railway that will connect Maracaju (MS) to Paranaguá. As the studies point out, this should handle around 26 million tons of cargo already in the first year of operation, mainly grains (especially soy) and refrigerated containers with animal protein.
The national secretary of Land Transport at the Ministry of Infrastructure, Marcello da Costa, said that this railroad will create a large logistical corridor, capturing cargo from Paraguay via Foz do Iguaçu, and be another option for the Midwest from Maracaju; and this, according to him, is in line with the federal government’s strategy for the country, which is to connect the railways to ports in different regions.
The secretary also spoke about the importance of the work to bring inputs and other cargo, especially for agribusiness. “This internal and return circulation with fertilizers and corn, for example, will benefit other states besides Paraná, such as Santa Catarina and Mato Grosso do Sul”, he highlights.
This is also the opinion of the Secretary of State for the Government of Mato Grosso do Sul, Jaime Verruck. During the meeting, he spoke about the importance of implementing Nova Ferroeste to foster competitiveness in the South and Center-West regions. “From the construction of this work, we will be able to reduce tariffs and improve the competitiveness of Brazilian products abroad,” stated Verruck.
The absence of railways in Paraguay was recalled by the director of the Department of Rail Transport (DTFER), Ismael Trinks, who participated in person at the event at Fiep’s headquarters. For him, the branch linking Cascavel to Foz do Iguaçu compensates for a logistical lack in the neighboring country and generates new opportunities. He also recalled the transformation brought about by the publication of Provisional Measure 1065, at the end of August, which includes authorization as an option for the execution of new projects for the railway modal. “Since the publication, we have received 12 authorization requests, three of them from Nova Ferroeste”, he explains, regarding the connections with Maracaju, Foz do Iguaçu and Paranaguá filed this month, which will be added to the current concession.
Today, Ferroeste operates a 248-kilometer stretch between Cascavel and Guarapuava, where it connects to the Malha Sul, operated by Rumo Logística to reach the coast. Currently, the travel time for a container between Cascavel and Paranaguá is five days; from the execution of Nova Ferroeste, this journey will be done in 20 hours.
The project foresees the expansion at both ends. From Cascavel, the railroad goes to Maracaju (MS), in addition to a branch to Foz do Iguaçu. From Guarapuava, Ferroeste will follow a new route to cross Serra da Esperança, bypass the Capital and descend Serra do Mar near BR 277 until reaching the coast. Today, around 20% of all merchandise that arrives at the two ports is transported by train. The intention is to increase this share to up to 60% with the arrival of Ferroeste in Paranaguá.
One of the most sensitive stretches from an environmental and engineering point of view is the descent of Serra do Mar, which will take place next to the BR 277 domain area, whenever the terrain allows it. A video with the projection of the tracing was presented to the participants. Over the 55 kilometers, 25 viaducts will be built (17 km in total) and 10 tunnels (8 km in total), seeking to preserve the existing vegetation as much as possible.
Nova Ferroeste was designed to support compositions with overlapping wagons, known as double stack. In this way, in addition to increasing transport capacity, it reduces the environmental impact, as Fagundes reminds us. “Each wagon corresponds to four trucks, in this way we significantly reduce the carbon emission compared to the road mode”, said the coordinator of the State Railway Plan, Luiz Henrique Fagundes.
Nova Ferroeste will benefit 9 million people in 427 cities in Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraguay.
PRODUCTIVE SECTOR – For Edson Vasconcelos, vice president and coordinator of Fiep’s Infrastructure Thematic Council, this debate with the productive sector is essential to understand how the ports are today, to receive current and projected production. “It brings a very important clarity to this connection with the new railway. The port serving the production of the State of Paraná is a first necessity, but today, what has been shown here is that it transcends and starts to also serve Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraguay and places the State as a port of great interest” .
The event was opened virtually by the president of Sistema Fiep, Carlos Valter Martins Pedro. The Secretary of Planning and Structuring Projects, Valdemar Bernardo Jorge, also participated in the State Government; and the director of Ferroeste, André Gonçalves. In addition to them, representatives of the Paraná Engineering Institute were also part of the debate; the Pro-Paraná Movement; TCP and the Porto Guará project.
Source: Portos do Paraná
