Brazil's Cosan to invest in new rail, port logistics company

São Paulo-based bioenergy major Cosan is planning to invest 1.5 billion reais (US$734.6 million) in the creation of its new railway and port logistics company Cosan Infraestrutura.
The company will complement Cosan’s current logistics arm, Rumo Logística, which is a leading sugar transporter in the region, according to a report by local paper DCI.
The news was disclosed by Rumo Logística President Julio Fontana Neto at the agro-industrial logistics event Esalq-Log, which was held at the end of March in São Paulo state’s Piracicaba city.
By mid-2013, the group should start handling the unloading of train cargo at Santos Port (São Paulo state), according to Fontana Neto, who also highlighted company railway investments at the event.
“We are also investing 600 million reais (US$293.9 million) to expand our Sumaré-Santos railway,” the executive was quoted as saying in the report.
Meanwhile, Cosan is expecting a rise in ethanol investments in Brazil. In February, it predicted that investments in the sector would soar in the wake of new fuel admixture regulations that encourages anhydrous alcohol production.
In the fourth quarter of 2012, the company posted a net income of 342 million reais (US$167.5 million), up 365% from 93.8 million reais (US$45.9 million) in the same period in 2011.
(April 1, 2013)