Morning, everyone, thank you for participating in our earnings call for the third quarter 2024. Today, we have Mr. Fabio Schettini, CEO, André Saleme Hachem, the CFO, and Ana Carolina Bastos, Treasury and Investor Relations Superintendent. This event is being recorded and will be available on the company's investor relations website. Ensuing the comments from Hidrovias' management, there will be a question-and-answer session, at which time further instructions will be provided. We would like to point out that the simultaneous translation tool is available on the platform. To access it, simply click on the interpretation button at the bottom of the screen and choose your preferred language. Please be advised that the forward-looking statements made herein are based on the beliefs and assumptions of Hidrovias' management and the current information available to the company.
These statements may involve risks and uncertainties as they relate to future events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur. Investors and analysts should take into account that events related to macroeconomic environment, the sector and other factors could lead to results that differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Having said that, I turn the floor over to Mr. Fabio Schettini. Morning, everyone, and thank you for participating in our earnings call for the third quarter 2024. To begin, I would like to ask you to go to slide number 4. In the operational context, we continue to have many restrictions on the southern corridor, especially in the iron ore transportation route.
We haven't been able to handle this cargo since mid-August due to the lack of operational draft, which results in a loss of revenue, less dilution of fixed costs, and an increase in variable cost per ton handled. In the north, as we commented in the previous quarter, we saw a trend towards a worsening draft at some specific points of the Tapajós River, leading to a gradual reduction in our navigation capacity and consequently 2 days without navigation at the end of the quarter, mainly impacting the volume in the integrated system. Even so, we were able to maintain growth in results over the record base that had been presented in the third quarter 2023, with an emphasis on fair growth.
The other operations continued as expected, with Santos seeing an increase in volume at the beginning of the salt operations and coastal navigation, which is cabotage, consistent with its history with the contract we have. On the financial side, the company shareholders approved a capital increase of a minimum of BRL 1.2 billion or a maximum of BRL 1.5 billion, allowing the company to unlock its growth agenda, especially in terms of growth in the number of companies. We ended the quarter with cash consumption explained by lower EBITDA and higher spending on debts, I'm sorry, that are dollarized, with a comfortable cash position of BRL 776 million.
Faced with the challenges presented, we began the last quarter of 2024 very focused on actions to mitigate the operational impacts related to the draft, which seasonally, when they happen, are greater in the 4th quarter. Even during water normality, the 4th quarter historically is the weakest. We are anticipating possible maintenance, optimizing existing resources and routes, and preparing for a rapid resumption of operations as soon as external conditions improve. Beyond the short term, we continue committed to seeking alternatives to the drought problem, ensuring continuity and greater operational predictability, as well as looking strategically at our new growth cycle, which will guarantee our company's best position within the North Corridor, further strengthening the competitiveness of Brazilian agribusiness. We move on to slide number 6. I would like to highlight our continued progress in the ESG agenda, which is an important pillar for Hidrovias do Brasil.
In August this year, we signed a technical cooperation agreement with SEMAS in Pará to strengthen the fishing agreement policy established with riverside communities. We have a close link with these communities. This is the first agreement signed between SEMAS and a private company, which reinforces our commitment to sustainable development and the well-being of the communities along the water base. After this brief introduction, I will hand over the floor to Andre Saleme Hachem, our CFO, who will comment on the results and will then be available for questions and answers. Thank you, Fabio Schettini, and a good day to all of you. Let's begin on slide number 8. We handled almost 2 million tons in the quarter and almost 6 million tons in the accumulated period.
As you can see, we had a lower volume of grains because of a delay in the sale of soybeans and the worsening of draft throughout the third quarter. Despite this, we had good results with a growth in the average tariff and a better mix. We ended the quarter with BRL 249 million, almost 7% higher than in the same period 2023. In the nine months, net operating revenue totaled BRL 767 million, 14% higher than in the nine months of 2023. We reported EBITDA of almost BRL 150 million for the quarter and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 60% despite the more restrictive draft environment.
For the nine months, adjusted EBITDA totaled BRL 767 million with a margin of 64%, reflecting the growth in tariffs, offsetting the loss of scale due to below record volume handled. For the last quarter of 2024, although we started October with severe navigation restrictions, over the last weeks, we have seen a gradual recovery in draft levels and a resumption in navigation services. We have tried to mitigate the impacts we had last year, such as anticipating maintenance. Despite the worse draft conditions compared to the fourth quarter 2023, we expect slightly better results for the north operation because of the lessons that we had this year. We move on to slide number 9 with the results of the southern corridor.
As we said in the last conference, we are entering a period in which seasonally drafts are lower and the challenges for transporting cargo are even greater, especially in the northern section of the Paraná-Paraguay River. Given this context, there have been great restrictions in the navigation of iron ore since mid-August, a fact that becomes clear when we see the 74% drop in the volume of iron transported in the quarter. In terms of grains and fertilizers, where the routes are further south of Asunción, we reached 139 million in the period and 438 million in the 9 months consolidated in the release issued on Friday.
Besides the impact on revenue, we had losses of scale, leading to an adjusted EBITDA, including JVs, of BRL 11 million in the quarter and BRL 79 million in the nine months, with an EBITDA margin of 8% and 18% respectively. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, despite the slight recovery of draft levels over the last week, it seems likely that the resumption of navigation of the iron ore will occur at the end of the quarter. This will add impacts on our results within which historical seasonality would be the lowest in the year. We go on to slide 9 with the figures obtained in coastal navigation that were at regular levels. We handled 912 million tons of bauxite in the quarter and 2.8 million tons in the nine months.
Net operating revenue totaled BRL 63 million and BRL 182 million in the nine months to date, reflecting the positive impact of the exchange rate variation as this is a contract pegged to the U.S. dollar. Adjusted EBITDA in turn totaled BRL 31 million in the quarter and BRL 88 million in the nine months, with EBITDA margins of 49% and 48% respectively, in line with the normal conditions of this operation and higher than 2023 due to the docking carried out in that period. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, we have no evidence to suggest that the operation will not continue as normal. On slide 11, we have the Santos operation, where we handled 498,000 tons of cargo, including 134,000 tons of salt that began at the end of the second quarter 2024.
In the nine months, we reached BRL 97 million. We had a lower tariff due to the cargo mix, which now includes a salt operation, which is lower than that of fertilizers. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter amounted to BRL 18 million, and for the nine months, BRL 46 million. Regarding the fourth quarter, we are still positive regarding the operation, and we continue to look forward to the maturity of our salt operations. On slide 13, we have the consolidated results of the company, with 4.3 million tons handled in the quarter and adjusted EBITDA of BRL 175 million for the quarter. We go on to slide 14 and reaching the end of the presentation. The leverage ended at 6.1 times Net Debt/EBITDA.
The worsening of the indicators is due to the exacerbation of results in the southern corridor because of a more restrictive draft. We also had the debt because of our debt that is pegged to the dollar, 77% of our debt is denominated in dollars. It is important to highlight our indebtedness program to the right of the slide. We have a debt with a long profile of approximately 4.5 years. We ended the quarter with BRL 776 million in cash, a comfortable level for our short-term needs, and we approved in the assembly a capital contribution that should be ratified at the beginning of December. This concludes the presentation, and I am at Fabio Schettini's disposal to answer any questions that you may have. We will now go on to the question-and-answer session.
Should you wish to pose a question, please click on the Q&A icon at the bottom of your screen and type in your question. To pose a question using the audio, click on Raise Hand. Our first question comes from Fernanda Hkia from BTG Pactual. You may proceed, ma'am. Good morning, everybody. Fabio Schettini, Hkia. Thank you for taking my question. Two points. First, I would like to explore the scenario of the North Corridor for 2025. What is happening with the trades, which are your contact for the coming year? If you could give us an indication of the price level in these contacts, and of course, what will happen with volumes that were challenging for the second half of the year. The second question referring to your capital increase.
That it has been approved at the general assembly, how is it that we should think about your coming steps in terms of the disbursement and the use of proceeds? How much of this will be used for expansion capacity in the Northern Corridor, and how much will be used for liabilities? Thank you. These are my two questions. Hello, Fernanda. Good day, and thank you for the questions. I will answer the first one and then give the floor to Andre Saleme Hachem. First of all, and the doubt that was hanging over our harvest, we thought there would be a strong harvest, and this resumption of rainfall during the month has had an impact on the harvest. Having said this, we begin with more than 60% already contracted in the long term.
Now, for the strong volumes and spot volumes of this harvest, the expectation is that until the end of the year, we will continue to receive orders as we have. We continue with that scenario of capacity restriction with a harvest that is very strong, and the dynamic should remain the same. We go in with strong volumes and with gains in tariff. In real terms, we're already concluding some negotiations, but I'm very confident that we will repeat what we did in the last two years, increasing our tariffs in real terms. I will give the floor to Andre Saleme Hachem to speak about the capital increase. Well, in terms of capital increase, the term is still open until the 18th of November, and we don't have authorization or the contract per se. When we think about use of proceeds, of course, we're thinking of an expansion in the north.
In our present-day financial situation, although our debt levels are high, we're still in a very comfortable position. We may have a significant cash generation because of organic growth. Once we increase capital, we have to resume our growth, and we have detected significant opportunities, especially in the North. Referring to liability management, once you have more resources, it's logical to try to refund your debts, of course. From the viewpoint of liability management, this is the goal. Basically, we're thinking of resuming our expansion through this process. Thank you. Thank you very much. Our next question comes from Philippe Nielsen from Citi. Your microphone has been unmuted. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for taking my question. I have a question referring to hydrology. We are observing a rather challenging scenario for the company.
You spoke about mitigation by working with maintenance and much more. If you could give us some more color in terms of what you are considering if we have a 2025 with hydrological and navigation problems, which are the ways that you are working? What is it that you have surveyed to be able to further mitigate these impacts? In a specific strategy, if there's a strategy that seems to be more feasible than the others. Thank you. Well, thank you, Felipe. This is Fabio. Well, the scenario does have to have a positive point. The intensity of the hydrology problem led us to finding responses. I will divide my answer in two parts. I will speak about the southern corridor, which is a more complex and longer corridor. We have several problems there now.
In the south, what is happening in the Paraguay stretch, there has already been an agreement with Paraguay to remove 13 points of stones in the Paraná River. This is underway and in fact it is being executed. The main is in Asunción, which was the main restriction in the river, and we have had navigation gains with the use of new pusher boats. This year, the situation would have worse had we not had these initiatives. All of this is underway, we still don't see the results. We're working on these 13 points, which is a public agreement carried out with Paraguay to work with these new pusher boats.
Now in Brazil, we carried out a survey as well, and we have shared the data so that the authorities can issue the environmental license to work with the dredging in 2025. During the first semester of 2025, these processes will be executed. If we have a crisis with the same intensity, which is not very probable, in the south, in the 120 years of history, this year we hit the minimum levels. This is the minimum record carried out in this series of 120 years. Should this happen again, we will be able to navigate in a more regular fashion. This is not an outlook, but because of the concrete action being carried out by the Paraguayan government and the dredging that we are working with in Brazil through the right authorities. We're speaking about sand banks.
In the north, Felipe, we have not been able to execute the dredging, but we do have good news. There has been a decree of a hydrological emergency, and should this crisis happen again the coming year, the Tapajós River will undergo dredging. In the north we have worked with agility, doing away with the bidding process should we have restrictions in the first half of the year to avoid any recurring impacts. This crisis had such an intensity that we did have concrete actions in the south as well as in the north. This intensity should not happen again, and the coincidence that it impacted the north simultaneously was something unheard of. There was an alternation of these crises, first in the north, then in the south. This year it happened in both corridors. I'm more optimistic for the coming year.
In terms of the southern corridor, there is an expectation of having several problems resolved during 2025, and we will capture the benefit in 2026. We will have changes in our routes in 2025, several actions implemented. In 2026 we will capture these benefits. Thank you. That was very clear. Thank you very much. Our next question comes from Gabriel Rezende from Itaú BBA. Your microphone has been unmuted. You may proceed. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for taking my question. Andre Saleme Hachem remarked on the comfortable scenario in terms of indebtedness. Regarding that point, if you could break down the level of leverage the company foresees once this capital increase comes into effect.
If you could speak about the range, it would be important for our modeling. From the viewpoint of leverage, how the exchange rate impact that's had an impact on you, your revenues are pegged to the USD, your debt is pegged to the USD. Which is the impact that the company could have with this exchange rate variation without a readjustment of debt? Thank you very much. Well, thank you. When it comes to our indebtedness and the capital increase will range between BRL 1.2 billion-BRL 1.5 billion, 3-4 times our leverage rate. The LTM EBITDA is quite differentiated, and it has been impacted because of the draft situation both in the south and in the north. The EBITDA perhaps does not reflect what we can do.
Regarding your second question on the mismatch between the dollarized revenue and your dollarized debt, 77% of our debt is higher than our revenues. We do have hedge accounting that will be used specifically in 2025. We have a hedge accounting close to BRL 350, and this has impacted our financial results. We have a spot depreciation on the real, an impact on our financial results. It's natural that we should try to equal out our indebtedness so that a larger part can be taken away from the pegging. What is pegged to the U.S. dollar is cabotage and the southern corridor. We're going to try to equal out, balance out our debt.
For the account to become simpler, as most of the hedge operation will be put in place in 2024, this will help our results, especially the financial results. I don't know if I have answered your questions. I did answer those 2 points. That was very clear, Andre Saleme Hachem. Thank you for your answers. Our next question comes from Gabriel Frasson from Bank of America. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for taking my question. I have a question on new projects. We calculate that the company debt will be reduced with a capital increase, which means there is room for the increase of capacity. If you could update us on your main capacity expansion projects and the terms, that would be very important information. Okay, Gabriel.
What we have basically are investments, and a gradual investment in the northern corridor. We have already published this. As we have a strong scenario of navigation, instead of waiting two or two and a half years, we have made investments to gradually expand this capacity. We're enhancing our navigation capacity to get to the double capacity at our terminal, which is what Hashem mentioned when we spoke about how to use the capital increase. We will have a capacity of 6.5 to 7 to 13.5, 14. In the case of the export terminal in Vila do Conde, we have integrated cargo. We're opening the southeast of Pará as well, and we have had faster and stronger growth in the area of influence we work with.
Because of this, we began the expansion program beginning with that terminal. All of this has already been contracted. The capital increase will offer us funding for this, and this is what we will do in the coming two years. Thank you for the answer. The question and answer session ends here. We would like to give the floor back to Mr. Fabio Schettino to continue on with the closing remarks. You may proceed. Thank you very much. The summary is that the year 2024 has been a very challenging one. Resilience and foundation are proven more in a crisis. We don't control these events. Despite this, we obtain positive results and robust margins which show and point to the resiliency of the company. We're looking for structural solutions for the navigation issues in both of our corridors.
We hope that the year 2025 will be a year of transition and execution of dredging, so that in 2026, we will go back to a more regular navigation with these initiatives. Regarding our capital structure, we have had that capital increase approved by shareholders. We want to rebalance our capital structure, taking our leverage level to those that are closer to what we wish to have. We had 14 years of trend and term for this, and this should unlock growth once again, because we have funding for the approval of the investments in the Vila do Conde terminal. Of course, we have enhanced our productivity. We're working with aid at present, but we're not able to increase it further.
It is the time to expand, to be able to prevail and continue to guarantee our competitiveness and the competitive situation we have in the north. I'm quite confident regarding this, and it will be a year for the consolidation of our initiatives from the viewpoint of dredging, the adjustment in our capital structure to this growth, so that in 2026, we can continue working based on our thesis. Thanks again for your attendance. The Hidrovias call ends here. We would like to thank all of you for your attendance. Have a very good day.