Ferroeste (Estrada de Ferro Paraná Oeste SA), a state-owned company that operates the rail network between Cascavel and Guarapuava, registered an increase in the flow capacity of the grain and industrialized products and closed the first quarter of 2020 with a profit of R $ 1, 66 million. It is the biggest result in the company’s history for the period, achieved even during the pandemic of the new coronavirus. The growth was 180% compared to the first four months of last year.
The numbers were influenced by the consolidation of the joint operation with Rumo Logística in the stretch from the West to the Center-South. The commercial agreement signed in February made it possible to expand the flow capacity, a measure that benefited the entire productive sector. In practice, the Ferroeste / Rumo partnership operates with up to 10 trains per day, twice the previous logistics.
“Ferroeste’s highly positive performance is a demonstration of the importance of the modal within the strategy of expanding and improving Paraná’s infrastructure and logistics. The agreement with Rumo was fundamental for the production chain, ”said Governor Carlos Massa Ratinho Junior.
The best monthly result was in February, with a profit of around R $ 1.021 million. In March, approximately R $ 311 thousand were reached; in April, R $ 207 thousand; and in January, R $ 128 thousand. Ferroeste’s gross revenue was R $ 10.5 million in the period.
MOVEMENT – Ferroeste achieved this financial performance in parallel to the largest movement in its history in just 30 days (160 thousand tons transported in April). In the four-month period, the volume transported was 496.5 thousand tons, an increase of 16.7% compared to 425.4 thousand tons last year and 48.5% in comparison with the first four-month period of 2018.
“We started 2020 with a great partnership with the private sector and, even during the pandemic, we contributed with the positive balances of exports”, said the Secretary of Infrastructure and Logistics, Sandro Alex. “We took all the necessary care and the logistical corridor from the field to the Port of Paranaguá did not stop working, which helped to keep thousands of jobs and generate wealth for the State”.
RESTRUCTURING – The good indexes of the first four months follow the result of 2019, the first closed year in which Ferroeste made a profit. Since 1996 (the year the operation started), the company’s financial results have been negative. The brand was motivated by the expressive volume of cargo transported last year (1.1 million tons), a quantity 41% higher than 2018, with 780 thousand tons.
“Ferroeste posted a profit for the first time in 23 years in 2019. We also reached more than 1 million tons transported and had revenues of over R $ 30 million in an unprecedented way. The company needed to restructure, reduce costs and find partnerships to follow the upward trajectory of agribusiness and industry in Paraná, “explained André Luiz Gonçalves, CEO of Ferroeste.
He points out that strategic planning, cost reduction, team restructuring, renegotiation with suppliers, new legal agreements, support from cooperatives, personalized customer service and new partnerships are part of this context. “The West region has enormous potential and we can grow even more in this operation. The grain harvest reached a historic record this year and exports also grew. The objective is to expand this web, ”added Gonçalves.
INNOVATIONS – Fábio Cesário Vieira, Ferroeste’s financial administrative director, explains that the innovations adopted internally were fundamental to reaching the brand in 2019, a year in the company identified a capacity ceiling, which is why the partnership with Rumo was opened.
“We stressed the operation to move at maximum capacity last year, but the high costs did not guarantee safety in the operation’s sustainability in the short term. We observed that the company could only evolve with partnerships, which provided the basis for this achievement in 2020 ”, he said.
The Specific Operations Contract (COE) signed between Ferroeste and Rumo allowed a new operational model based on the right of way, essential to increase cargo handling to serve the West region. “The challenge was to balance our operations. After three months we achieved a great result, and we still deliver more agility and quality to customers ”, added Vieira. “The forecasts indicate that this growth will continue until the end of the year.”
NEXT STEPS – According to the director-president of Ferroeste, the positive results are important to attract investors for the state’s railway logistics operation, which will be expanded in the coming years. “We want to structure this modal, which is essential to balance the flow of Paraná. Investments are being made in transportation, in the port sector and in the private sector. This operation will be important for the resumption of the economy after the pandemic ”, said Gonçalves.
In 2019, the State Government hired the EVTEA-J (Technical, Economic, Environmental and Legal Feasibility Study) for the Nova Ferrovia (Paranaguá to Maracaju, Mato Grosso do Sul) projects and for the Cascavel to Foz do Iguaçu railway branch. The winning consortium is undergoing analysis by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and it is expected to start work next month.
Ferroeste has also started to build the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) notice and the respective Environmental Impact Report (RIMA), with the expectation of contracting in 2020 and completion at the end of 2021.
The medium-term project foresees a Multimodal Terminal in Foz do Iguaçu to be initially operated by river and road between Foz do Iguaçu and Cascavel. Rail transport will enter a second stage, which will bring about a significant increase in the movement of trains and cargo in Western Paraná, expanding the generation of employment and the GDP of the State.
MARACAJÚ – PARANAGUÁ – The long-term project is to complete the Maracaju-Paranaguá link, with the integration of the Foz do Iguaçu-Cascavel intermodal stretch. The program includes Cascavel-Guarapuava-Litoral lines, covering a strategic region for the country and the continent.
The connection will be 1,000 kilometers. The idea is that 50 million tons of cargo, between exports and imports, will be transported through this branch.
Box
Export logistics corridor kept pace during the pandemic
Even during the pandemic, the State Government took the necessary precautions and maintained important operations in the economy. Ferroeste and Portos do Paraná closed April with the biggest movements in the history of companies in just one month, reaching 160 thousand tons transported by railways and 5.5 million tons of cargo in the port sector. There were 10,194 wagons unloaded in Paranaguá in April, almost 20% more than the same month last year (8,505).
In the four-month period, more than 18 million tons were handled in the port sector, 15% more than in the same period of 2019, with 15.7 million. There were only 11.8 million tons of solid bulk, 17% more than last year in the first four months. In the soy complex alone, there were 5.8 million, 46% more.
Box 2
Paraná exports increased in the first four months
According to data from the Secretariat of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, linked to the Ministry of Economy, Paraná’s exports totaled US $ 1.46 billion in April 2020, an increase of 5% in relation to the same month last year. In the first four months, foreign sales increased 2.6%, driven by the summer soybean harvest, which is expected to reach more than 40 million tons.
Exports to China (23.7%), Holland (61.5%), Bangladesch (48.9%) and Japan (10.3%) increased between January and April. The main responsible for these results were soy (32.7%), crude soy oil (70.2%), automobiles (45.2%), fresh chicken meat (3.8%) and raw sugar ( 94.9%).
Source: www.aen.pr.gov.br