Apr 30, 2021
Rumo Improves Efficiency of Rondonopolis, Grain Terminal
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The Rondonopolis, Mato Grosso Grain Terminal, which is operated by Rumo, is the largest in Latin America and the company continues to invest heavily to increase capacity and improve efficiency of their operation. The soybeans and corn received at the terminal is then transferred by rail to the Port of Santos in southeastern Brazil, which is Brazil's largest port.
Rumo reported that it invested R$ 230 million (approximately $41.8 million) in 2020 to improve operations at the terminal in the form of new bins and hoppers so that the terminal can now receive up to 2,000 trucks per day and it can load three trains simultaneously.
The company indicated that they made the investments in order to accommodate the increasing production of grain in Mato Grosso and to stay competitive with Brazil's "Northern Arc" of ports along the Amazon River. Mato Grosso is Brazil's largest grain producing state and production continues to increase with the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea) estimating the 2020/21 soybean production at 35.7 million tons and corn production at 34.9 million tons as of their April 12th report.
One of the behind the scene investments was to implement a scheduling system called Trizy, which became operational in July of 2020. This system is now the platform for scheduling truck deliveries to the terminal. Once a truck driver registers in the system with his documentation, all the scheduling going forward is now 100% digital. This makes the scheduling much more agile without any of the bureaucracy associated with the old system.
During the past year, the system scheduled 219,000 grain deliveries to the terminal with only 414 "no shows" or a completion rate of 99.8%. This allows for a more efficient planning of unloading trucks and loading trains. On average, the terminal had been receiving about 1,600 trucks per day and with the new system, that capacity can now be expanded up to 2,000 trucks per day. In February, the terminal received a record of 41,881 grain truck deliveries.
This new system not only improves the efficiency of Rumo's operations, it is also a benefit for the truck drivers as well. The drivers can now plan their trips more efficiency knowing that they will not have to wait in long lines in order to unload their grain.