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Brazilian mining firm Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) recently won a 30-year concession to operate, modernize and maintain a 446-mile stretch of the North-South Railroad (FNS).

The company submitted the sole bid for the line to VALEC Engineering, Construction and Railroads S.A., a state-owned company operated by Brazil's Ministry of Transportation that previously held the concession.

The line runs from Acailandia to Palmas. Since 1996, CVRD has operated a 140-mile stretch of FNS' line running through Acailandia and Estreito, where FNS links to the Carajás Railroad.

The line provides CVRD a new rail corridor to move export soybeans, alcohol and sugar produced in Brazil's center-north region to several ports, the company said.