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The Municipality of Aracruz, in the north of Espírito Santo, has been attracting port investment to its port and Sudene area. The municipal government is working to modernize the infrastructure to meet the growing demands for transport, logistics and services.
Portocel, which was previously focused only on cellulose, is expanding its activities. In this way, Imetame intends to inaugurate its cargo terminal between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025. With a large retro area and deep waters, the trend is to assume protagonism in a short time.
To improve the flow of people and cargo in the city, some measures are being taken. One of them is the duplication of the Vitória-Minas railroad, which connects the city to Barra do Riacho. The objective is to make traffic more fluid to facilitate the transport of passengers and goods. However, the state government is also building a road arch between Jacaraípe and Santa Cruz, with the aim of going around the coast and avoiding urban agglomerations.
With investments in infrastructure practically guaranteed, Aracruz is ready to become one of the main logistics hubs in the Brazilian Northeast in the coming years. The city encompasses a series of tax incentives offered by the Superintendence for the Development of the Northeast (Sudene), in addition to subsidized lines of credit that draw the attention of investors in relation to port investments.
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The municipality now expects a significant change in the local economy with the growth of these port investments and highways. Logistics entrepreneurs are also pressing for the highways and railroads that provide access to Aracruz to be expanded and modernized. A duplicate expressway would allow Grande Vitória to be just 1 hour from the center of the Sudene area, making the Metropolitan region more economically attractive.
Those port investments have been adding to local initiatives to make Aracruz a highly competitive destination in the national logistics sector. With a modern infrastructure and meeting local demands, Aracruz will have real conditions to become one of the main logistics hubs in the Northeast Region in the coming years.
The logistics platform that Espírito Santo needs for success
The Brazilian government, led by Minister of the Environment Marina Silva and the Minister of Agriculture Carlos Fávaro, aims to double or triple Brazilian agricultural production in 20 years, which will require significant port investments and roads in infrastructure and logistics.
To achieve these goals, the government has been working to improve and expand the existing railways. The recently created Railroad Authorizations Program is an important measure in this regard. Through it, private companies can propose, build and operate sections of railways, in addition to branches, yards and railway terminals.
One of these authorizations was the EF-352, which connects the North-South in the Midwest passing through Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais. However, there are other measures being taken to expand the capacity of existing ports. Several authorizations have already been granted.
This expansion of logistics would allow not only the outflow of Agricultural production for the ports in the Northeast and South of the country, as well as the export of grains to other countries. At first, investments in infrastructure generate employment opportunities and a great boost to the national economy.
However, this change also needs to have the necessary political strength to make realistic financial projects viable, in addition to raising funds. port investment private sector to finance the works. Vale is already negotiating with the government to build a section connecting the Vitória-Minas railroad to Ubu and establish a cargo capacity that would feed the new Port of Imetame in Aracruz.
Today, almost all Brazilian agricultural production proceeds by trucks and waterways with sequential transfers between trucks, barges, ships and river ports. If the government's plan comes to fruition successfully, it will have a direct impact on this limiting reality and will pave the way for a modern logistics platform capable of meeting the demands of Brazilian agriculture in the coming years.
