Railway corridor linking Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil proposed

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Mining companies in northern Argentina are interested in establishing a rail corridor to transport their products to midwestern Brazil using Bolivian railroads, a route that would also benefit Chile, which now exports minerals to Brazil by sea around the southern part of the continent.

This would entail the rehabilitation of an unused section in Argentine territory, with a low investment.

The proposal emerged last week at technical meetings on the competitiveness of mining in the Argentine Salta province, and its development potential towards the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The meeting was organized jointly by the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, the Brazilian municipality of Corumbá, the Corumbá Trade Association and international trade and investment promotion platform Ipochase.

The meeting was held online, where the Salta Chamber of Mining’s vice-president, Fernanda Fraga provided an overview of the sector. “Salta has much to offer, not only its geological potential but also today we export borates to Brazil and there is great interest in exporting salt and potassium, including lithium in the future,” said Fraga.

During the meeting, emphasis was placed on the region’s railway links through the Belgrano Cargas (Argentina), Ferroviaria Oriental (Bolivia), Ferronor (Chile) and Malha Oeste (Brazil) lines. A part of the railroad connection between Salta and central western Brazil is obsolete, the Argentine C-15 line, which connects Bolivia and Argentina through Salvador Mazza and Yacuiba. Connections to Santa Cruz and Corumbá, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, are available from there.

To reactivate the C-15 line, three railway bridges must be rebuilt and some 80 kilometers of tracks must be recovered. That project had been tendered and awarded in 2017 for US$60 million, but it was cancelled the following year. In late 2020, the Argentine government announced the reactivation of the project with Chinese financing, but this did not materialize either.

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry’s general coordinator of Economic Affairs for South America, Central America and the Caribbean, João Carlos Parkinson de Castro, said that a railway integration which already exists and is not being exploited should be leveraged. “We could have products from Northwestern Argentina being exported by railroad to Corumbá (border municipality with Bolivia) and from there to São Paulo,” the official said.

Ferroviaria Oriental (FO), one of Bolivia’s two railroad concessionaires said it is willing to participate in the transportation of cargo through Bolivian territory, as it has a potential for 3.5 million tons and is currently only using 2 million tons capacity.

POTENTIAL

Brazil imported US$134 million in mining products, mainly copper from Chile, according to Minister João Carlos Parkinson de Castro.

“The product exported by Antofagasta enters Brazil through the port of Santos, which means a very long sea route, including a route from Santos to Mato Grosso do Sul, which is about 1,300 kilometers. We are offering a railway connection to these current logistics, which leaves from Pocitos and reaches Corumbá in 5 days, with an average railway freight of around US$40 per ton. So we have reduced costs, time, carbon dioxide emissions and consequently, greater competitiveness,” he explained.

“If Salta manages to export a third of what Mato Grosso do Sul imports from Chile, the three bridges needed for the C-15 would be paid for. It is a new logistics, much more efficient, with positive impacts on competitiveness, both for Brazilian exports and for products imported from Salta,” the diplomat said.