GE Sells 50 Locomotives in Brazil

GE Transportation will deliver 50 new freight locomotives to Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Cosan, with the engines built in the United States and the locomotive structures in Brazil.

This is the second recent agreement GE has signed to send freight hauling units to that country; it follows a December deal to supply 10 to the America Latina Logistica rail line.

Cosan’s logistics unit, Rumo, will take the 50 AC44i-model locomotives in deliveries set to begin this year. Julio Fontana, Rumo’s president, said “these new locomotives will contribute significantly to increase our hauling capacity and our company’s growth."

The shipper plans to use them, GE said, to haul sugar from its processing plants to port on the ALL rail system.

GE will build the diesel engines at its factory in Grove City, Pa. The other parts of the locomotives will be built by its affiliate GE Transportation South America, at a plant in Contagem, Brazil.

The manufacturer said it has built several models of rail power units in Brazil since 1967, producing more than 1,000 that are in use in more than 15 nations worldwide.

Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com.