English 
Spanish 
4 min read
0 comments
Eldorado advances with a preliminary license for a railway worth R$890 million in MS and undertakes to pay R$7,8 million in environmental compensation.
Since 2010, the construction of a railroad to connect the Eldorado cellulose factory, in Três Lagoas, to Ferronorte, in Aparecida do Taboado, is in the plans. Recently, the company reached an important milestone: the publication of the preliminary license in the Official State Gazette, last Thursday (18/07), marks the next phase of the project. With this license, Eldorado undertakes to pay more than R$7,8 million in environmental compensation, as required by the Mato Grosso do Sul Environmental Institute (Imasul).
Eldorado project details
The extension rail The planned project will be 89 kilometers long and will involve an estimated investment of R$890 million, which represents around R$10 million per kilometer. However, this value may not reflect current costs as the estimate is based on data from at least four years ago.
For comparison, Chilean Arauco expects to spend R$17 million per kilometer on a 47-kilometer extension in Innocência.
- Rio de Janeiro could get a monumental subway connecting the capital to Niterói after 60 years of waiting, but with one condition: hosting the Pan American Games
- Brazilian state loses all its rail connections with other regions of Brazil and now needs 4 BILLION to reconnect the country
- Innovation Explosion: Implementos São Paulo Revolutionizes Transportation in the Oil Sector at Mossoró Oil & Gas Energy
- The government's ambitious plan aims to connect regions of the country with a 2.4-kilometer railway to revolutionize Brazilian logistics
The environmental compensation of R$7.823.100,00 required by Imasul is a common practice for works that cause significant environmental impacts.
This value seeks to mitigate the effects of construction on local nature.
Advances and challenges
In 2021, Eldorado obtained authorization from the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) to build the extension.
However, it was only in April of this year that the company received the license to expropriate the land necessary for the railway, with due compensation to the owners.
Despite these advances, the start of works still depends on obtaining local environmental licenses, which are essential to ensure compliance with environmental standards and begin effective construction.
Eldorado intends to use the railway branch to transport around 1,7 million tons of cellulose produced annually to Aparecida do Taboado.
From there, the pulp will be sent by railway to the Port of Santos, where there is already a railway line that connects the port to the company's production.
Currently, cellulose is transported by trucks, which represents a higher cost and lower efficiency compared to rail transport.
Expansion plans
The brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista, controllers of Eldorado, have ambitious plans for the factory.
They announced an investment of approximately R$15 billion to double the factory's production capacity.
In July last year, during the inauguration of a port terminal in Santos, Joesley Batista mentioned the construction of the railway as a necessary final step to connect the factory to the port.
According to him, the railway is a crucial part of optimizing production logistics.
Eldorado’s current situation and competition
Although the commitment to environmental compensation was recently formalized, there is still no set date for the start of work on the railway.
Eldorado and J&F, the group that controls Eldorado, have not yet commented on a specific schedule for construction.
The press office of the client was contacted, but there has been no response so far.
In addition to Eldorado, Suzano, another large cellulose producer, also requested authorization from ANTT to build a railway to Aparecida do Taboado.
However, ANTT has already indicated that only one authorization will be granted, which could force both companies to use the same railway branch or Suzano to continue using road transport.
The construction of the railway branch by Eldorado represents a significant advance for cellulose transport logistics in Mato Grosso do Sul.
The granting of the preliminary license and the commitment to environmental compensation are important steps, but the project still faces challenges, including the need for local licenses and competition with Suzano.
The development of the railway can transform transport efficiency and the growth of cellulose production in the region.
