A importância das hidrovias brasileiras como fator de força para a política marítima brasileira: as hidrovias da Amazônia e do Tocantins-Araguaia, como fatores de integração do Centro-Oeste brasileiro às cadeias produtivas mundiais

Abstract

Brazil needs to increase the competitiveness of national exported products, making them more attractive to the main global production chains and benefiting the Brazilian economy directly. Some factors are decisive for a country's role in the supply of raw materials destined to these production chains. Therefore, are worth to be highlighted: abundance of natural resources, good geopolitical relations between suppliers and consumers, economic openness, modern infrastructure required for different types of cargo transportation and the final value of supplying production, whose freight cost is one of main items to be taken into consideration. According to the National Waterway Transport Agency, a single six barge train corresponds to the volume of cargo carried by two hundred and ten trucks. The main commodity buyers in Brazil are located in the Northern Hemisphere and, therefore, the privileged geographical position of the ports in the cities of Belém, Macapá, Manaus, São Luís and Santarém - the main ports in the Arco Norte - constitute an important connection with the chains worldwide, thereby reducing distance, freight and insurance costs. In this context, the waterways of the Amazon region and Tocantins-Araguaia, allied to the ports of Arco Norte, become vital in reducing logistical costs. The ease of transportation provided by the use of waterways and their consequent reduction in costs can start a virtuous cycle along the waterways, with the appearance of specialized industries, connection between regional production chains, boost in shipbuilding, job creation and use of return cargo for Brazilian agricultural producers, such as manure and fertilizers. The hydrographic researches carried out by the regional Hydrography and the Navigation Centers, as well as the constant signalizing update of the various rivers in the region, allow the safe increase of the navigation draft, providing a greater volume of commercialized cargo. The permanence of Brazilian Navy ships and vessels in hydrographic basins, combined to civic-social actions aimed at the regions, contribute to National defense of the territory, as well as provides navigation safety and social well-being to the riverside communities. It is essential, therefore, to change the basic matrix from the road transport mode to the multimodal system, with emphasis on waterways, in order to overcome the long distances imposed, mainly from the production regions to the exportation ports