Brazil Transportation Profile 2012

Brazil has a huge and diverse transport network. Roads are the primary carriers of freight and passenger traffic. The road system totaled 2.01million km (1.23 million mi) in 2002. The total of paved roads increased from 35,496 km (22,056 mi) in 1967 to 184,140 km (114,425 mi) in 2002.

Brazil's railway system has been declining since 1945, when emphasis shifted to highway construction. The total length of railway track was 30,875 km (19,186 mi) in 2002, as compared with 31,848 km (19,789 mi) in 1970. Most of the railway system belongs to the Federal Railroad Corp., with a majority government interest; there are as well lines which the government privatized in 1997.[197] The São Paulo Metro was the first underground transit system in Brazil. The other metro systems are in Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Recife, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Teresina, Fortaleza, and Salvador.

Cities with Metros

• * Belo Horizonte
• * Brasília
• * Fortaleza (Under Construction - 2010)
• * Porto Alegre
• * Recife
• * Rio de Janeiro
• * São Paulo
• * Salvador (Under construction - March 2008)

Railway links with adjacent countries

• Uruguay - yes - break-of-gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3⅜ in) (Brazil) /4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm) (Uruguay)
• Argentina - yes - break-of-gauge 1000 m(Brazil)/4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm) (Argentina)
• Paraguay - no
• Bolivia - yes - 1000 mm gauge both countries

• * Peru - no
• * Colombia - no
• * Venezuela - no
• * Guyana - no
• * Suriname - no
• * French Guiana - no

There are about 2,600 airports in Brazil, including landing fields: the second major number in the world, after the United States.

São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport, near São Paulo, is the major and busiest airport, handling the vast majority of popular and commercial traffic of the country and connecting the city with virtually amount major cities across the world.

Shipping Report

Coastal shipping links widely separated parts of the country. Bolivia and Paraguay have been given free ports at Santos. Of the 36 deep-water ports, Santos, Itajaí, Rio Grande, Paranaguá, Rio de Janeiro, Sepetiba, Vitória, Suape, Manaus and São Francisco do Sul are some of the majority significant.

The pace of recovery in Brazil's maritime sector in 2010 has taken a lot of by surprise, with throughput at the country's major port, Santos, building on last year's unexpected 2.6% increase with an increase of 16.9% year-on-time(y-o-y) during the first months of the year.

The speed of the recovery across the port sector has reignited debate surrounding the increasing inadequacies of Brazil's maritime infrastructure to cope with the volumes demanded of it by the country's bulging trade volumes. Part the issues being contended is the amount of new investment provided for port development by President Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva's government.

Though transportation has been of the areas singled out for much needed improvement by the government's 2007 Accelerated Increase Programme (PAC), which promised to release BRL642bn (US$360bn) in public financing for areas such as housing and infrastructure, some observers believe the funding made available to the port sector has only gone a small way to allowing for the expansions and developments needed.

According to opposition politician Senator Roberto Cavalcanti, Brazilian ports are facing a funding gap of about US$18bn over the next few years with only US$6bn expected to be provided by the government out of the estimated US$24bn that is required. The timing of Calvacanti's outburst is significant for reasons. First, disruption at of Brazil's major maritime facilities, Paranaguá exacerbated the strains on the country's port infrastructure after irregularities found at the port by a health and safety audit led to the suspension of amount shipping activities from July.

The problem occurred only months before the peak of the sugar export season, making the disruption acutely symbolic of the problems the sector as a whole is having in attempting to transaction with Brazil's growing international trade mandate. Meanwhile, the announcement is as well a timely reminder of how, in the run-up to October's presidential election, despite considerable investment in recent years, in terms of its development Brazil's port sector continues to lag behind the standards of other major emerging nations such as China and indeed neighbouring states such as Argentina and Chile.

With PT candidate hoping to succeed Lula come October, the inadequacies of the port sector appear as a major blot on the government's otherwise impressive record. The need for private finance will be essential if the existing funding gap is to be overcome and of the questions voters must answer is which party will be best placed to attract this investment.

After H110's surge, we believes the pressures on Brazil's port sector will reduce slightly in the second half of the year as request from China for iron ore and other raw materials, part the major drivers of port throughput, slows. By the end of 2010, the Port of Santos is estimate to have handled 94.12mn tonnes of cargo, equivalent to a y-o-y increase of 13.1%. In 2011, increase is expected to moderate further with next year's increase projected at 9.7%.

In terms of container throughput, this year's increase is expected to be considerably higher, reflecting the sharp contraction in box handling in 2009. We estimate a y-o-y increase of 16.8% which in 2011 will reduce to 13.1%. The major downside risks to our forecasts for Q410 and 2011 will be the possibility of a dip in economic activity in Brazil's major export markets, China, the US and Western Europe which will impact on export volumes. With Brazil's consumer increase story likely to have much further to run, however, strong imports increase is likely to help offset any potential decline.

Related Reports:
Brazil Shipping Analysis Q1 2011