VALE confirmed in a press release on August 28 that it has failed to reach consensus with Brazil’s government and the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) over renegotiation of the Estrada de Ferro Carajás (EFC) and Estrada de Ferro Vitória-Minas (EFVM) concessions.
The negotiations were mediated by the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), which had set an August 2025 deadline. Despite months of discussion, Vale reported that, despite negotiations, no agreement was finalised by the established deadline.
Vale was awarded the two concessions in 1997 under Brazil’s Federal Railway Privatisation Programme for an initial 30-year term. They were later extended twice: in 2012 to 2047, and again in December 2020 under the Bolsonaro administration to 2057.
In 2023, the incoming administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva initiated a review of Vale’s rail concessions, prompting the current mediation process.
The 892km Carajás Railway links the Carajás mining complex in Pará to the port of Ponta da Madeira in Maranhão, handling some of the largest iron ore trains in the world. The 905km Vitória - Minas Railway connects the Iron Quadrangle in Minas Gerais to the port of Vitória in Espírito Santo. EFVM also operates Brazil’s only inter-city passenger rail service, running between Belo Horizonte and Vitória.
“The extensions of the Carajás and Vitória-Minas railway concessions granted in 2020 remain in full effect,” Vale said in its statement. Nevertheless, uncertainty lingers over the long-term framework and the company’s investment commitments made as part of the 2020 extension, which are worth an estimated $US 800m, including passenger service expansion and works to “mitigate urban conflicts.”
Vale confirmed the purchase of 36 new locomotives for use across the two railways earlier this year.
