Fertilizer company receives approval to build Brazil rail line

Canada-based fertilizer company Verde AgriTech, formerly Verde Potash, has received authorization from Brazil’s land transport regulator ANTT to build and operate a rail line in Minas Gerais state for 99 years.

A prefeasibility study filed in 2022 pegged capex at US$ 283mn, but the line’s length was not disclosed. The rail will have capacity to transport 50Mt/y of multi-nutrient potassium products. It will support fertilizer distribution and “connect Verde’s production facilities to a rail node that’s part of Ferrovia Centro-Atlantica (FCA), effectively linking the municipalities of São Gotardo and Ibiá,” the company said in a press release.

Operator FCA links seven states and Brasília and runs the main freight route across the southeast, northeast and midwest. The company is expected to assume the construction costs for the rail branch. Verde is studying potential technical support partnerships for construction and logistics. 

ANTT approved the request under the authorization regime, in place since 2021 and which allows firms to build and operate short rail networks under rights-of-use issued by the government, avoiding lengthy tender processes.

After Verde and ANTT sign the contract, the company will start environmental and engineering studies, according to the press release.