Aug 03, 2023

Rumo and CHS form Joint Venture for New Grain Terminal in Brazil

Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.

Brazil's railroad operator Rumo has joined with the American company Central Harvest States (CHS) for the construction and operation of a multimodal gain terminal in the state of Tocantins in north-central Brazil.

The terminal will be in the municipality of Alvorada in southern Tocantins and will have the capacity of 1.5 million tons of grain annually which will be destined for the Port of Santos in southeastern Brazil. The terminal will link into the newly completed North-South Railroad which connects the Port of Santos in southeastern Brazil with the Port of Sao Luis in northeastern Brazil.

Construction is scheduled to begin during the second half of 2023 with the first grain shipments in mid-2024.

The new grain terminal is ideally located to receive soybeans and corn from farmers in southern Tocantins as well as producers in western Bahia and eastern Mato Grosso. In recent years, this region of central Brazil has seen a huge increase in grain production as farmers convert pastures to row crop production. Grain production will continue to expand especially now with the completion of the Nort-South railroad and the subsequent lower transportation costs.