Brazilian railways transported 178.3 billion ton-kilometers in the third quarter of the year, according to information disclosed on Friday, November 24, by the National Association of Railway Transport (ANTF).
The organization estimates that in the whole of 2006 trains should transport 237.7 billion ton-kilometers. One ton-kilometer represents the transport of one ton over one kilometer, according to the European Environment Agency glossary.
If the figure is confirmed, it will represent an increase of 7.1% when compared to last year and 73% when compared to 1997, when railways started being managed by private companies in a concession regime.
According to the ANTF, coal and ore transport reached 132 billion ton-kilometers in the third quarter of 2006 and should reach 176 billion ton-kilometers in the year as a whole, which, if confirmed, should represent growth of 6.3% over 2005 and 65.1% when compared to 1997.
The volume of general cargo, in turn, reached 46.3 billion ton-kilometers up to September and should reach 61.7 billion ton-kilometers up to the end of the year, always according to the ANTF. If confirmed, this will represent an increase of 9.6% over last year and 103% over 1997.
The volume of containers transported from January to September was 153,938 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) and should reach 205,250 TEUs up to the end of the year, or 8.2% greater than in 2005.
The organization also informed that investment made in the system by operators reached 1.8 billion reais (US$ 830 million) in the first nine months of the year and should reach 2.35 billion reais (US$ 1 billion) up to the end of 2006.
Since privatization of the railway network, according to the ANTF, the private initiative has invested 11.4 billion reais (US$ 5.3 billion) in the sector, and the government has invested 500 reais million (US$ 230 million).
Direct and indirect jobs generated by the sector reached 31,566 in September this year, an increase of 37% when compared to December 2005 and almost double the number of positions existing before privatization, according to the ANTF.
Anba