The challenges to developing waterways have focused investor’s attention on railroads. In 2020, the Amazon Hub of the IIRSA portfolio included eight rail projects, which were either completed (2), under construction (1) or on the drawing boards (5). The estimated total budget ranges between $US 20 and $US 30 billion, but even the larger number […]
The main stem of the Amazon River has provided access to ocean-going cargo ships for centuries, including modern container ships that service the manufacturing sector in Manaus and ore-carriers that haul bauxite from near Oriximiná (Pará) and iron ore and manganese from Santana (Amapá). The first modern grain terminal, built at Itacoatiara in 1998 across […]
The past two decades saw a massive increase in hydropower across the Pan Amazon. The Brazilian government has scaled back investment in mega-scale hydropower projects but continues to pursue development of medium and large-scale projects. Cost overruns at hydropower dams across the world have exposed them as poor investments, and the national development bank (BNDES) […]
The Tapajós is a clear-water river and the fifth largest tributary of the Amazon; it drops in elevation from about 800 meters above sea level in the highlands of central Mato Grosso to less than seven meters at its confluence with the Amazon River near the city of Santarem. More than 45 sites have been […]
The Rio Madeira was the next Amazonian tributary to attract the attention of Brazil’s hydropower developers. The river is free of rapids as it flows along the western edge of the Brazilian Shield for about 1,300 kilometers between Porto Velho (Rondônia) to its junction with the Amazon River near Itacoatiara (Amazonas). Upstream, the watershed is […]