Análise de alternativas intermodais para escoar a produção de soja dos Estados do Pará e Tocantins

Abstract

World projections indicate an increase in demand for soy and, in this context, countries with continental dimensions and favorable soils such as Brazil stand out. Particularly, the states of the northern region of Brazil show themselves as possible new agricultural frontiers for this crop. However, they need to be competitive in order to sell their production, which indicates the need for studies of available modal alternatives to determine those with better economic results. With this in mind, the present work executed the analysis of alternative intermodal routes using linear programming, to identify the optimal solution route, in support to decision-making in the transport of soybeans for export, taking as a case a region located between States of Pará and Tocantins, close to the Araguaia-Tocantins waterway. Within the categories of linear programming models, the particular case called transport and transshipment problem was used. The model aimed to minimize transport costs from the production centers to the exporting port, through the current infrastructure and, under different scenarios of intermodal alternatives formed by the project of Ferrovia Paraense S.A. and by Araguaia-Tocantins waterway, the year 2019 and production projections are considered for the year 2029. The results showed that the scenarios with waterway transport bring greater benefit to the region, achieving savings of up to 23%. Furthermore, the Vila do Conde port complex expands its zone of influence, thus obtaining increase in the quantity exported in up to 1059.7%. As well, it confirms that the State of Pará is the one that most needs an intermodal alternative. Furthermore, the routes were configured in new transport networks, reducing the distances traveled in the road modal to transport production from the municipalities, reducing the flow on the main highways. Thus, it is concluded that intermodal transport improves regional competitiveness and favors the development of States.