Amid growing concerns over the pace of preparations for the 2014 World Cup, it is worth noting some of the massive non-Cup infrastructure projects going on in Brazil, not only to gain a sense of scale but also as related trade and business opportunities abound.
Two major pipelines currently being developed to transport ethanol and iron ore are moving ahead rapidly as the companies behind the projects look to take advantage of the significant range of benefits on offer.
Firstly, a group of Brazil’s biggest companies has recently formed a new business tasked with developing a “multi-mode logistics system consisting of a network of multiple-use pipelines extending approximately 1,900 km”, in an initiative allowing long distance transport and storage of ethanol and other clear fuels. The consortium, consisting of Odebrecht TransPort, Petrobras, Camargo Corrêa, Cosan Açúcar e Álcool, Copersucar and Uniduto Logística, recently established the company Logum Logística SA to build and operate the pipeline system, which is expected to open in 2012.
The companies have estimated that the move will result in a 20% reduction in transportation costs, currently predominated by trucks, as well as environmental and sustainability benefits. They stated that it is “just is one of the solutions created to reduce the growing volume of trucks that travel along the country’s highways, transporting flammable materials and releasing CO2 into the atmosphere”.
The development, with an initial investment of R$ 100 million, will cover the states of Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and transport up to 21 billion litres per year.
- In a second key project, mining giant Anglo American has set a July 2013 start date for a 525km slurry pipeline connecting the company’s Minas Rio mine in Minas Gerais state to a new port development close to Rio de Janeiro. The project has been delayed by disputes over land tenure rights, although over 120 kilometers has already been built.
The R$3.4 billion Acu Port complex, which will be one of the three biggest in the world upon completion in 2012, is being developed by LLX Logistica, owned by Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista. Anglo American is one of the Port´s first customers and will pay a fixed tariff to LLX. Its pipeline will carry iron ore mixed with water.