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.
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