Rumo records new record in fertilizer operations

About to complete one year of operation, the Fertilizers project designed by Rumo, the largest railway operator in the country, in partnership with JM-Link, continues to break significant operational records for product imports. In April 2019, the ship Theresa Hebei docked at the Port of Santos with more than 72 thousand tons of fertilizers from the Belarusian Potash Company (BPC), surpassing the mark of 71 thousand tons registered in November last year.

Responsible for managing the country's main grain export rail corridor, which connects the Central-West production chain to the Port of Santos, the Company developed a round-trip (full cycle) commercial strategy, where part of the wagons are unloaded with grain at the port, they began to return loaded with fertilizers to the Rumo terminal in Rondonópolis (MT). “Our projection is that, in 2019, around 50% of the consumption of fertilizers imported into Mato Grosso will come from the railway”, highlights Jose Eduardo Grandi Cavalcanti, Sales Executive at Rumo.

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For 2019, Rumo estimates a movement of approximately 2 million tons of fertilizers. The value is equivalent to almost 23 thousand wagons, which represents around 50 thousand truck trips on the roads destined for Rondonópolis. This operation improves logistical costs for rural producers, increases road safety and reduces pollutant emissions into the environment.

“The project brought a profitable alternative to the import market, optimizing logistics costs through the high capacity of the railway mode. The perspective for the coming years is to continue expanding operations in this segment”, explains Cavalcanti.

To make the fertilizer operation viable, Rumo, in partnership with JM-Link, has already invested more than R$200 million in the terminal's infrastructure. The complex has the capacity to unload up to 7,5 million tons per year, and is structured with two railway lines that unload eight wagons at the same time, two independent conveyor belts of 1.200 t/hour each and a static capacity of 64 thousand tons. Aiming for growth in accordance with demand and the growth plan, the terminal could reach 192 thousand tons of static capacity in the coming years.