In the last edition of AgroForum 2022, the Minister of Infrastructure, Marcelo Sampaio, ended his participation with an important reflection: “There is an important law that the agro lives and breathes every day, it is the sowing law. Everything that is sowed is reaped.” It couldn't be different. Brazil took the position that was the USA, becoming the number 1 in the global grain trading.
Today the two major food providers in the world are Brazil and the USA, according to data presented at the event. Although US corn and soybean production is 500 million tons, US domestic consumption is much higher than Brazil's. Only about 60 to 65 million tons of these grains are exported by the Americans, making their exports smaller compared to Brazil: here we produce 250 million tons, but we export more than 100 million tons.
These numbers put Brazil in first place in the global grain trading, taking the position that was the USA, with a gigantic possibility of expansion and continuity in leadership due to the fact that it has room to increase production, unlike the USA that stagnated in terms of arable space.
Thanks to the growth of its infrastructure, which has been well sown, our country has become the most competitive to put products on the table in countries like China, considered the largest consumer market. The Brazilian Midwest was more efficient than the American Midwest thanks to the investments made. With this, it was possible to make the dollar per barrel cheaper from Mato Grosso to China, compared to the route used by the Americans through Mississippi.
Public and private authorities are in harmony and know that the Asian market is there to buy food, which should increase Brazil's leadership and competitive position in relation to other countries. With this leadership opportunity, Brazil has everything it takes to migrate from a developing to a developed country.
At the event, attention was drawn to how important the railway sector will be for Brazil to remain competitive, even with difficulties arising from the large territorial extension. The rail and waterway sector are the sectors that can transport large volumes with low added value. In addition to safety and efficiency, the environmental impact of railroads reduces emissions by 75% when compared to the same tons transported by the road sector.
This public/private combination, which was already successful in the port and air transport sectors, was replicated in the rail sector. The State held the monopoly of the railways, however, in the last years of the new government, with the regulatory change in the railway sector, the private sector was allowed to take the lead in investments and even risks through the authorization regime. So far, 27 companies have been authorized to invest 240 billion of the 89 orders that have been placed in recent months and are under review.
In three years and nine months of the sector's resurgence, thanks to the anticipation of regulatory models for railroad concessions, we will benefit from 30% of transport by rail, with sustainability as its greatest legacy. The forecast is that the participation of the railway sector, which was only 15%, will double in the coming years.
In addition, the event presented us with some stark data about deficit public ports. The port of Santos, for example, brought a loss of 500 million reais, however, thanks to the last few years, it will reach more than 600 million profit in 2022. And so, successively, all national ports have been turning into surpluses in recent years. years old.
The change in management was paramount in the infrastructure sector, ending systemic corruption and public companies that had always been loss-making, bringing operational efficiency through the private sector, achieving an extremely positive result. With the union of the efforts of the rail, road and waterway sectors, together with public-private partnerships, a country that was already aligned from the gate in, a leader in productivity through the use of technology and agricultural varieties, will continue to be in the competitive leadership. It's betting to see it happen.
AgroForum 2022, in the panel “Reducing Costs Brazil: Logistics & Infrastructure” with the Minister of Infrastructure, Marcelo Sampaio and the CEO of the company Rumo, João Alberto de Abreu, brought a reality unknown to the vast majority of Brazilians, strongly demonstrating the work carried out by private initiative in partnership with the public, making it possible for us to conquer the podium not only in the infrastructure sector, but, consequently, in several other sectors that follow the path of development.
Guilherme Spiller,
