March 5, 2010

Brazil invests US$1.7 billion in grain storage

 

 

The second stage of Brazil's PAC growth acceleration plan (PAC 2) will see the investment of BRL3 billion (US$1.68 billion) in grain storage.

PAC 2 will be officially launched by the President on March 26.

Half of the warehouses in developed countries are private, while in Brazil only 15% are private. Brazilian agriculture minister Reinhold Stephanes said the government wants to raise investment in warehouses in rural properties and cooperatives.

In addition to storage, PAC will invest a large sum in agricultural infrastructure and logistics, and the Mid-West region - Brazil's biggest grain producer - will be the priority. The project will build highways, waterways and railways, said Stephanes.

PAC 2 foresees investments in the modernisation of the ports of Porto Velho, in Rondonia state, Itaqui, in Maranhão and of Santarém and Vila do Conde, in Pará, as well as another two ports in Pernambuco state.

Stephanes said the country's production capacity would be bigger by now had it not for logistic problems.

The National Department of Infrastructure and Transport (Dnit) has said that Brazil's current transport system based on highways must be restructured to make way for railways, waterways and ports.