The Company’s business model is based on providing waterway transport solutions specifically developed to meet the needs of its customers. Currently, the Company operates on 4 main logistic routes(North, South, Coastal Shipping, and Salt/Santos), and has four strategically located port terminals in addition to a fleet of more than 400 cargo barges, 28 pushers (main or auxiliary), 4 speedboats, and 2 coastal vessels.
Major clients include international companies in the agricultural trading, mining and pulp industries such as: Vale International S.A. (“Vale”), Cofco Group (“COFCO”), Norsk Hydro ASA (“Norsk Hydro”), and Sodrugestvo Group S.A. (“Sodru”). In addition to contracts with first-rate customers, it has long-term take-or-pay contracts, which provide for a minimum payment to guarantee the provision of integrated logistic services based on a volume previously agreed between the customer and the Company.
Such take-or-pay contracts not only provide greater predictability andresilience to the business but also ensure that rates are adjusted annually based on changes in fuel costs, labor agreements and inflation, and have an average term of around 14 years (calculated asa weighted average of contracted revenues). In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, 62.9% of the Company’s Net Revenue came fromlong-term take-or-pay contracts.
The main logistic corridors operated by the Company:
- North Corridor: Operation in the fluvial system formed by the Trombetas, Tapajós and Amazonas rivers, which make up one of longest river systems in the world with about 3,300 km, crossing the Northern Region of Brazil. The Tapajós River is one of the largest watercourses in this river system and enables the transportation of agricultural commodities exports, mainly thoseproduced in the State of Mato Grosso.
In this logistics Corridor, we offer water navigation services between Miritituba’s bulk solid cargo transshipment station (“Miritituba Cargo Transshipment Station – ETC”), located in thecity of Itaituba, in the State of Pará, and our private use port terminal of Vila do Conde, (“Vila do Conde Private Use Terminal”), located in the city of Barcarena, Pará. - South Corridor: The Paraná and Paraguay rivers are the main watercourses that make up the Paraguay-Paraná river system.
The Paraguay River flows about 2,600 km from its headwaters, in the State of Mato Grosso, to its confluence with the Paraná River. The source of the Paraná River is in the southeast and central Brazil’s highlands, and it mostly flows towards the south,to the point where, after a journey of approximately 4,900 km, it merges with the Uruguay River. This is one of the largest riversystems in the world. It includes an economically diverse system of ports, terminals, transfer stations, and watercourses that cross five countries (Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, and Bolivia), facilitating trade in this fertile region, rich in natural resources. In this logistics corridor, we offer inland navigation services through varied routes, including different loading and unloading terminals. - Coastal Shipping: The fluvial system formed by the Trombetas, Tapajós and Amazonas rivers also facilitates the outflow of bauxite produced in the North of Brazil, particularly in
Porto Trombetas, in the State of Pará, with the product being directed to the world’s largest alumina refinery, located in Barcarena, Pará. - Santos and Salt: We have two new projects in the implementation phase, namely:
Santos Terminal: In August 2019, we were the winners of the auction tender procedure carried out as per Auction Notice no. 1/2019, for the lease of a port area called STS20, intended for the handling and storage of bulk solid minerals (fertilizers and salt) at the organized Port of Santos – which is the largest maritime port in Brazil. The Santos Terminal has an annual handling capacity of 2.6 million tons of fertilizers and 1.1 milliontons of salt.
The operation is at a standstill, undergoing modernization, and should resume its activities in 2022.
Salt: In January 2020, we signed a 20-year take-or-pay contract with Salinor, the largest Brazilian sea salt producer, and some of its affiliates. The purpose of the contract is to provide an integrated transport solution with self-propelled barges and a
salt transshipment operation from Salinor’s salt ponds, located in Mossoró and Macau, in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, to the Company’s own floatingtransshipment facility, which has a transfer capacity of up to 2.5 million tons per year.
The contract with Salinor provides for volume between 1.5 to 2.25 million tons per year. This operation should start in 2022.
The map below shows the Company’s current areas of activity:
