Thank you for waiting, and welcome to Rumo's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. During the presentation, attendees will be on a listen-only mode. Once the prepared remarks are concluded, further instructions will be provided and we will begin the Q&A session. This presentation is being recorded and simultaneously translation is available by clicking on the Interpretation button. If you are listening to the video conference in English, you have the option to mute the original audio in Portuguese by clicking on Mute Original Audio. Before proceeding, we would like to reiterate that forward-looking statements are based on Rumo's executive board's beliefs and assumptions and information currently available to the company. These statements involve risks and uncertainties as they relate to future events and depend on circumstances that may or may not materialize.
We recommend that you refer to the disclaimer on the second page of the presentation. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Felipe Saraiva, Rumo's Head of Investor Relations. Mr. Saraiva, you may begin the presentation.
Good afternoon, everyone, thank you for joining Rumo's earnings conference call for the first quarter of 2026. Let me start with the highlights on page three of the presentation. We have begun the year with a quarter of solid execution in line with our operating plan. We transported 20.2 billion RTK in the first quarter, the all-time high figure for a first quarter and a 25% increase compared to the first quarter last year. The Northern Operations was the main driver of this performance, with 16.6 billion RTK transported, up 27%. Higher volumes combined with discipline in cost and expense management supported the improvements in our results. Adjusted EBITDA reached BRL 1.7 billion, up 7% year-over-year, and adjusted net income was BRL 266 million, an increase of 41%.
Investments amounted by BRL 1.8 billion, fully aligned with our plan for the period. We closed the quarter with financial leverage of 2.1x . Moving to page four, I represent our market share. We gained market share in all of our main markets. In Mato Grosso, market share reached 38%, an increase of 2 percentage points. In Goiás, we reached 33%, up 9 percentage points year-over-year. On a destination standpoint, our market share at the Port of Santos reached 57%, an increase of 12 percentage points. At the Port of Paranaguá in São Francisco do Sul, market share reached 28%, also up 12 percentage points. These results point to a recovered market share to levels that are more aligned with the capacity potential of the railway. On page five, we show our operating indicators.
Even though we delivered a significant growth in transported volumes, we maintained stability in our major operating indicators. Transit time in the Northern Operations was really similar to the previous years, while dwell time in Santos improved during the period. Regarding energy efficiency, units fuel consumption improved by 6%. This is a clear evidence of the efficiency gains from our model of longer and heavier trains. On page six, I represent volumes by commercial portfolio. The Northern Operations was the major driver for growth, led by grains, but with increases across all of the portfolios. In the Southern Operations, higher volumes were supported by agricultural commodities, mostly soybeans, corn, and fertilizers. Moving to page seven, let's go through the revenue and yields highlights. Consolidated net revenue was BRL 3.3 billion, an increase of 11%, driven by higher transported volumes.
Yields reflected the competitive repositioning cycle that has started in the second quarter last year and have just completed 12 months by the end of this quarter. Currently, we operate at a level of competitiveness that is better aligned with the logistics alternatives available in our major markets. We remain focused in maximize our value through the efficient utilization of our capacity, balancing volume, market share, and profitability. On page eight, we represent the EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 7% in the quarter, reaching BRL 1.7 billion. In the Northern Operations, EBITDA reached BRL 1.6 billion, up 6%, supported by higher volumes and a fixed cost and expense dilution. In the Southern Operations, adjusted EBITDA reached BRL 141 million, up 10%, with contribution from higher volumes and cost discipline. On page nine, we move to financial results and net income.
Net financial results were negative by BRL 846 million, mainly reflecting a higher net debt base and a higher average CDI rate, the local benchmark. We have delivered adjusted net income of BRL 266 million, up 41%, mainly supported by operational improvement. On page 10, we will discuss the indebtedness of the company. Net debt closed the quarter at BRL 16.9 billion, with financial leverage at 2.1x. We have a solid liquidity profile with BRL 5.9 billion in cash position and an extended debt maturity profile. We have BRL 2.7 billion in committed and undrawn financial lines. On page 11, I represent investments for the quarter.
We invested BRL 1.8 billion in the quarter, of which BRL 533 million was recurring CapEx and BRL 1.2 billion was expansion CapEx. In the Northern Operations, which concentrates our expansion investments, we allocated more investments to the acquisition of rolling stock while reducing investments in railway network capacity expansion. At the Mato Grosso project, disbursements and physical progress remain in line with the plan. With the start of operations is scheduled for the third quarter of 2026. The new railway will strengthen our capacity to serve one of the main producing regions of Brazilian agribusiness. We will now move to an update of the soybean market on page 12. The Brazilian soybean crop remains at a high level, with production estimated at 108 million tons and exports of 115 million tons.
In Mato Grosso, production is estimated at 52 million tons, with exports of around 33 million tons. Moving to page 13 with the corn outlook. Brazilian production is estimated at 147 million tons, with exports of 41 million tons. In Mato Grosso, the expansion of planted area by roughly 450,000 acres supports the production in the state of around 60 million tons, with exports estimated at roughly 25 million tons. It concludes my presentation. Now we are available for the Q&A session. Thank you.
Good afternoon. Joining us today are Mr. Pedro Palma, Mr. Guilherme Machado, and Mr. Felipe Saraiva. Before we begin the Q&A session, Mr. Pedro Palma would like to say a few words. Please go ahead, Mr. Palma.
Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us on Q1 earnings conference call. The first quarter 2026 was in line with our plan. Rail and Rumo particularly has proven to be very competitive in Q1, and that with the right prices, the market does prefer our solution. You can see that reflected in the volumes we transported and the market share across our operations. Even at that price level, our margins continue to be very healthy. They're also healthy, thanks to the operational excellence and our pursuit for energy efficiency, which has allowed us to continue to have healthy margins in our business.
In addition to the variable costs and energy efficiency, another key event is our management of fixed costs and expenses, which are also becoming more efficient in the company. If we look at our operations, in the south network, we don't have any plans for expansion. In pre maturity, we see a stability showing assets. To recall, because we still have a negative cash flow for the company. On the other hand, on the Northern Operations, we have more robust extension plans. Also, still there's room to grow in the market. The nominal value and fixed costs and revenue all tend to grow, but it will have to do so with great efficiency. We've had the numbers based on the reduction of unit costs, which are a sign of excellent results for the company.
Every time the Northern Operations, the Northern Operations increases its RTK volume, that additional RTK comes in with a higher margin than the previous RTK and make sure that we continue to improve profitability, not only in this operation, but in the business as a whole. The pursuit for efficiency also happens in our capital cost and the CapEx. What we did in the first quarter was totally in line with what we have for our annual plan. Phase I of S&T, which is our main project, will start in the third quarter 2026. I'd like to reiterate that it will happen within the same time window that we'd set halfway through 2024 and for the same cost that we had announced.
I just want to reiterate the delivery of the first phase of this project, which is key for the company in the third quarter this year, as we had planned. The other investments made this quarter are recurring investments in maintenance and expansion, and they're also according to our annual plans and forecasts for 2026 as a whole. The first quarter didn't have any major surprises, which is a very good thing. Looking forward, we also hope to keep on the same trajectory. We're not expecting any great surprises in 2026. We'll continue to pursue operational efficiency, maximizing volumes, working on reducing company costs, and on improving our capital allocation within the business. I don't just want to talk, let's start the Q&A so that I can answer any questions you might have about our earnings for the first quarter. Thank you. Let's move on to the Q&A.
Thank you. We will now begin the Q&A session. To ask a question, please click on Raise Hand. If your question has been answered, you can leave the queue by clicking on Put Hand Down. We kindly ask that you ask only one question at a time, so everyone gets a chance to ask their question. If we have enough time left at the end, we might have another round of questions. Questions in writing via the Q&A icon will be answered after the conference by Rumo's Investor Relations team. Stay hold while we pull for questions. The first question is from Mr. Lucas Marquiori from BTG Pactual. Please go ahead, Mr. Marquiori.
Thank you. Hello, everyone. Good afternoon. Let me take this opportunity to clarify the price repositioning program. You ended the pricing repositioning cycle. I remember in the last Q's earnings call, you mentioned a price delivery in Q1 looking for parity close to zero, maybe with a slight upside from Q2 to Q3. The world has changed a lot. Wars, oil prices, everything's going up. I'd like to update what you've been seeing in your price curve, both what you have already locked in. I would imagine you've locked in a large part of soybean, but if you have a curve for corn prices for Q2, that would be great. Thank you.
Great, Lucas. This is Pedro. I'll take your question. What happened in Q1 was exactly what we had mentioned in the last. When oil for the second quarter this year, we've already locked in our capacity.
Let me reiterate what we had already said in our previous earnings release call. We should be seeing prices close to what we had in Q2 2025. Same price curve I mentioned. In Q1, I said we would have a reduction that was just over 10%. We did deliver practically that, slightly better actually. For Q2, we're seeing some stability compared to Q2 2025. Let's not forget that there are variations, 1% or 2% below coming from mix effects. There will be some adjustments based on segments or origination plans. We're talking about the same magnitude as we saw last year. That's Q2. Now, looking forward, in the second half of 2026, we practically sold 50% of our grains capacity, but in our sales plan for the period.
The volume that we did sell was at the same level or similar level to what we saw last year. We've locked in that volume at that level. Now, as an aside, let me just comment on diesel. Lucas, as you know, and others may have the same question, our contract go through a pass-through process. The same amount we've locked in with the market, as diesel goes up, the price goes up by the same value, practically in absolute terms. It's a natural hedging process, which is pretty much perfect for the volumes that have already been contracted. That's an aside on the impact of the diesel going up or down. That does not change the contracted margin that is reserved. Now, looking forward, what's yet to be sold, Lucas.
There is some uncertainty in terms of results, but we're very positive about the second half of the year. As Saraiva said, the crops and exports are looking great in terms of product availability, especially corn. We're very confident that there will be availability, either because the crop is looking up, very healthy, or because of the corn carryover inventory. There will be product availability. Obviously, there will be some uncertainty because the market hasn't contracted the other 50% of the capacity that's missing because everybody is on the same boat. Monitoring the international market, international demand for Brazilian corn is still uncertain, but that's natural for this time of year. I mean, we're still at the beginning of May. Let's not forget that corn exports take place as of July.
Our expectation is to sell the capacity that's missing over the next few weeks and months. Obviously, I can't give you an absolute answer. In terms of trends, macro trends and the competitive scenario in terms of future pricing, obviously, it should be marginally positive compared to what's already been contracted. Diesel going up has an impact on our competition because our solution is the most competitive in terms of energy efficiency. That efficiency does place us in a better solution and favors our logistics solution. Also, operational efficiency, the quality of our solution and being contracted, obviously will bring in more volume to Rumo's system. With higher volumes, the production and normal operation flow will also benefit us. We're seeing a positive scenario for what's yet to be contracted, but the demand has to be put on the table.
There's no sense of urgency. We're very happy with the volumes that have been contracted so far and what's in our pipeline for the second half of the year. Just like we executed on Q1 in line with our plan, the same applies to Q2, and I'm confident that we're gonna have a great journey in the second quarter. That's something we work on every day and so that we can get to that by the end of the year.
That's very clear. Thank you, Pedro. Have a great day, everyone.
The next question is for Mr. André Ferreira from Bradesco. Please go ahead, Mr. Ferreira.
Hi, good afternoon. Thank you for taking my question, and congratulations on your results. Could you talk a bit more or give us an update on the CapEx for 2026? Is it still in line with what you announced in the earnings call last quarter? If you could provide some clarity on distribution. Do you think it will be more concentrated at the beginning of the year like we saw last year? Do you think the pace will tend to go down over the next two quarters?
Hi, André. Thank you for your question. This is Guilherme. Yeah. We do confirm that CapEx level in the company's investment program, as we announced in the last call. It will probably be between the performance we had in 2024 and 2025. Between those two levels in the last two years. Yes, it will be more concentrated at the beginning of the year. It's very similar to the first quarter 2025.
It will get to that level over the year, the level that we shared with you. Obviously, in 2026, that will reflect on the movement to deliver the first phase of the Mato Grosso rail project. As Pedro said, and so did Saraiva during the presentation, we're fully compliant, we're on track. The work should be concluded on time. I visited the terminal on Tuesday, and in May, we should start running tests on the terminal. We're getting the structure ready so that in the third quarter we can have the operation up and running. We're on track with what we had planned for the year, and there are no surprises.
Okay. Yeah, that's very clear. Thank you. Have a good afternoon.
The next question is from Mr. Alberto Valerio from UBS. Please go ahead, Mr. Valerio.
Good afternoon. Thank you for taking my question. Saraiva, Guilherme, and Pedro. Could you update us on the return of the West and South networks? What's happening, and are there any news? Are you still in conversation with the government? We heard some news about Transnordestina. If you could update us on those assets, that would be great. Thank you.
Hi, Alberto. This is Guilherme. Thank you for the question. Yeah. There isn't any major news in the West network. What we can say is that we have started the process to make the institutional side formal to return the assets in June. We have been saying that to you, and we are in conversation with the regulatory agency and the government that since there are no more operations, we have prepared everything. Everything was ready, and we will now return the assets.
Soon, we're going to settle the accounts on that, but there are no surprises and no news. In terms of the South Network, what we can share with you is that the government asked us to look into a temporary solution until we have a definitive solution to resolve the South Network, where things are different. Some volumes are being transported there, about 20 million tons. We do need a solution with a bit more fine-tuning and detail. We're just waiting to hear from the government. That operation, as it is today is not sustainable in the future because it's in deficit. We'll look into it. We'll hear what the government has to say. When the time is right, and when we have more details, we should have some news which we will share with you.
That's great. Thank you.
The next question is from Mr. Gabriel Rezende from Itaú BBA. Please go ahead, Mr. Rezende.
Hi, Pedro, Guilherme, and Felipe. I'd like to hear a bit more about the tariffs for the second half of the year. To us, there's a clear upside for Rumo because of the inflation rate and diesel. We thought that the inflation would have an impact on the rail and road transportation in addition to your competitiveness. Now, looking at more recent data on the road transportation dynamics, we still haven't seen that, the diesel dynamics having an impact on an inflation rate that's similar to that of road transportation. Road transportation is a bit more exposed, and we don't know about a pass-through of the diesel price. Do you have any expectation for any upside on the second half of the year? Thank you.
Hi, Gabriel. This is Felipe. Thank you for the question. Yes. We have been monitoring what's been happening to road transportation in the last two weeks, yes, we had expected a bigger increase than the one we saw. As Pedro said, Rumo has contracted half of its capacity in its grains operation for the second half of the year, that half has been contracted at the same price level that we saw in the second half of last year. Obviously, prices will keep up with the market. If the road transportation market creates opportunities for some tariff increases, I can say to you that we are monitoring what is going on. Since this is still open, we're still waiting for definition. Clients are beginning to talk with Rumo to share their export curves for the second half of the year to start contracting what hasn't been contracted yet.
It's too soon to know where those prices will land. We're optimistic about what we've been seeing for the second half. As Pedro said, we have a good crop coming from Mato Grosso, so there will be availability of products for export. A point of attention is what will be the exports from that state and what will be the demand level for the corn from Mato Grosso. We'll make sure that rail is at a competitive level regardless of what's happening to the market, so it can be an attractive option, an attractive solution for clients. It will keep up with the market in the second half of the year.
That's very clear, Felipe. If I can ask a follow-up question. Based on your experience, and since you're on the front line much more than we are, you know, you're negotiating, you're seeing how the market is behaving, are there any assumptions that you use to explain why road transportation hasn't gone up? Do you think it's because the diesel went up too quickly? Is it the volatility, and they're taking a while to pass that through? Do you have any hypothesis internally to explain that delay?
Yeah, we have a lot of hypothesis, Gabriel, but they are hypothesis. Based on our experience, supply and demand are what matter in the pricing dynamics. Based on our experience, if prices haven't moved, it's because there is an excess demand in terms of logistics, and that's why prices haven't gone up. That's for now. Let's wait and see what happens to the corn crop and the beginning of that journey. I didn't mention, but I think it's worth pointing out that in addition to corn, we are already seeing clients asking about soybean transportation, especially in Q3. That will add to our logistics supply portfolio. Supply and demand always prevail when it comes to transportation prices and logistics prices.
That's very clear. Thank you, Felipe.
The next question is from Mr. Guilherme Mendes from JP Morgan. Please go ahead, Mr. Mendes.
Hi, everyone. Good afternoon. Pedro, Felipe, and Guilherme. We've been coming from sales that have taken place in advance in the last two years rather than spot sales and shorter windows. Is management interested in working on longer windows? I mean, looking at maybe 2027, would management be okay with maybe giving up a bit of price for more, more visibility, take or pay contracts a bit more than we've seen in the past? Not only in the second half of the year, but 2027, should we continue to see short-term sales?
Great question, Guilherme. This is Pedro. Allow me to answer your question. The straightforward answer is that I would love to have the longest contracts possible, and I can give you an example of the pulp contract we have. They're 20-year contracts. We negotiate those contracts, and then every day we discuss what to do with that asset base and how we're gonna do that work the best way possible. It works for pulp because my client produces it, controls the origination. They have an absolutely stable flow. They define how much is going to be exported, so there's zero seasonality for pulp. With the exception of the plant downtime for maintenance, which is covered by the inventory, it's up and running at full capacity practically the whole year. That dynamic doesn't apply to corn, for instance, which is the other extreme.
Our clients and the market that operates logistics is a market where they add volumes from different growers, and they try to match the origination flow with the demand on the other side of the world, whether it's from China, the Middle East, wherever the destination for that product might be. No trading company is absolutely certain if two to three years from now, what kind of corn volume they will need to send to Iran three years from now, for instance. They don't know whether they will be supplying Iran. They don't know if it will be their competition or if Iran will decide to buy from the U.S. Just to give you an extreme example, just to illustrate my point. To sell a specific volume of corn forward with a three to five-year contract now, the pricing level wouldn't be something I would agree with.
We're better off analyzing the demand and being more competitive in a timeline that can accommodate what the demand requires. As a rail company, we are ready to work in any scenario. We can have 20-30-year contracts with clients, and we do, and we can also sell for the next quarter if that's what the market dynamics are. Our challenge is we need to understand the different dynamics so that we can position ourselves as best as possible. Obviously, the price concession we would have to make to have that long-term peace of mind isn't worth it. Our mindset is to work on each portfolio according to their specificities. Pulp, more than 20 years. Fuel, three to five. Sugar, three to five years.
Meal in the grains market is a type of product that is more stable, so we can have one to two-year contracts. Grains and corn have more uncertain crops, greater international demand. Obviously, the sales timeline is a bit shorter because that's the market dynamics. If you extend that too much, we'd have to give up on price, and that's not worth it. We work with different segments in different markets, and we just have to monitor them so that we can put ourselves in the best position without losing sight of the best results.
Great, Pedro. That was very clear. Have a great afternoon.
The next question is from Mr. Rogério Araújo from Bank of America. Please go ahead, Mr. Araújo.
Hi, Pedro, Guilherme, Saraiva. Thanks for this opportunity. Could we talk about your expansion assessments? I noticed that you've shared some CapEx. Could you walk us through what qualifying the rail network or ports and terminals mean? Rolling stock is clearer. Where does the obligations with the FNS network come into it? If you could give us some ballpark figure for your CapEx over the next two years, that would be great. Also, if you could provide us a bit more detail about Lucas do Rio Verde. We're concluding the first phase now. Will you begin the second phase investments as soon as the first phase is over, or will you wait a while?
Good afternoon, Rogério. This is Felipe. I'll start with your question about the new CapEx disclosure structure, and then we can talk about the Mato Grosso rail. We are reporting the company's expansion investments in three blocks. First, rolling stock. Which is basically buying new cars.
The second block is investments in improvements to the rail network. These are all investments that take place and go towards the rail. For instance, new yards, any construction works to double rail stretches or anything to reduce operational risk, like the security works in the Santos region or urban conflicts like building a bridge. All of those investments around the rail system are part of this group, improvements to the rail network. All the investments that are part of the Paulista Network are substantially covered by these improvements to the rail network. Now, when we look at improvements to ports and terminals, some investments can be made in increasing productivity in the existing terminals. Other investments might take place at the Port of Santos, like the fixed work on the right bank margin.
Those are the kinds of investments that we'll see in this class, as about ports and terminals. About the Paulista Network, we still have some remaining investments which are concentrated until 2028, roughly BRL 1 billion a year. From 2028-2032, the residual investment. Which adds up to about BRL 5 billion-BRL 6 billion. That's the residual investment that's part of the Paulista Network investment plan.
Hi, this is Guilherme. About the project, the Mato Grosso rail project, as I said, we're highly focused on delivering phase I right now. The resources, basically are for the first phase that we will deliver in 2026. We have not covered the phase II of the Mato Grosso rail. We're going to conclude, deliver, and get the first phase up and running. We're going to use some of the flexibilities that are available in the contract.
We are compliant and have adhered to everything that was agreed on with the state of Mato Grosso, and we're also sensitive to cash generation and consumption. We sized the investment plan so that the company can remain at a healthy leverage and liquidity level without breaching a contract or not keeping to the commitments we made. That was the rationale. Investment levels for the next few years. Well, that will be based on fine-tuning our budget for the next years, especially 2027.
What we can say for now is that we probably won't have investments that are that different to what we have planned for 2026. We should stay at that same level. Considering the end of phase I, we will acquire assets considering the growth of this terminal, which will open with a capacity of 10 million for the next three years. That was the decision, and those are the prospects for the time being.
May I ask a follow-up question?
Yes.
That's without Lucas 2, right? That CapEx level for 2026. If you decide to proceed with Lucas 2, then you would add that to 2027, right?
Yes, exactly.
Okay. That's very clear. Thank you.
The next question is from Mr. Pedro Bruno from XP. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon. Thank you for taking my question. If we can just go back to pricing, please. I'd just like to confirm a couple of things and ask a question. I just want to make sure what product we're talking about when you talked about your expectations looking forward. Guilherme talked about year-on-year freight in Q2. He said it's the same expectation of a few months ago when we had the previous earnings release call.
I just want to make sure which product we're talking about. I think Saraiva mentioned grains. I would just like to confirm that it is grains. The same applies to capacity. You talked about 50% of your capacity has been sold for the second half of the year. Is that just corn? Is it grains? Is it your capacity as a whole? What does it include? Shouldn't diesel have already had an impact on Q2, which is already feeling the effects of the recent diesel increase? As Guilherme said, your expectations haven't changed to having tariffs close to Q2 2025, but diesel prices are at different levels. If you could also comment on pricing and grains in the Northern Operations, both from an industrial perspective in the Northern Operations and the Southern Operations. Thank you.
Hi, Pedro. This is Felipe. Thank you for the question. We have been sharing where prices are going in our portfolio as a whole. The second quarter of the year, we expect a convergence toward price levels that are similar to what we saw last year. I'm talking about the prices of the products in the Northern Operations that are in our portfolio. This is what we report on our release. I'm not talking about any specific prices or products. I'm talking about the whole portfolio. Same applies to the Southern Operations. Price levels should be similar to what we saw in the second quarter last year. Moving to the end of your question, looking at our portfolio, especially industrial products like pulp or bauxite in the Northern Operations or our sugar contracts. These contracts are pegged to the inflation rate, so they usually follow the inflation rate.
Those are longer term contracts. We don't negotiate prices every year. What changes are new contracts. Those might have some variations, but the change in those portfolios is based on the relevance of each of those portfolios for the company during specific periods. There aren't any major fluctuations, generally speaking. About capacity. Our capacity is overall, we don't have soybean capacity or corn capacity. We have an overall capacity. We say that we've sold half of our capacity to the second half of the year. I mean, grains in the Northern Operations as a whole. Soybean, corn and meal. Half of that capacity is still being negotiated with the clients. To your last point about fuel. In Rumo's commercial agreements with our clients, we have a margin protection mechanism to pass through fuel increases both upwards or downwards. That's a neutrality principle.
Rumo doesn't make or lose any money as fuel prices go up or down. We basically pass it on to clients. Fuel for rail is different to what we see at the pump. Even though there was an increase at the pump, the increase for rail is lower. The pass-through is at mid-March or end of March, but there haven't been any impacts on our tariffs because of the fuel pass-through. There haven't been any material changes to the unit fuel costs either. I think I've answered all of your questions, but please let me know if I've missed any.
Yes, you've answered them. Thank you. To your first point, you said our portfolio as a whole, and then when you talked about the Northern Operations, you talked about pricing for the portfolio as a whole. You mean grains, right?
No, Pedro. No, no. Let me make that very clear. It's a whole portfolio for the Northern Operations where we transport grains, sugar, fertilizers, fuel, bauxite, pulp. Just the price for the whole Northern Operations, which is the price we report on our earnings release. That yield that was reported will converge towards similar levels that we saw in Q3 2025.
Okay. That's very clear. Thank you very much.
The next question is from Mr. Filipe Nielsen from Citi. Please go ahead, Mr. Nielsen.
Hi. Good afternoon, and thank you for taking my question. Let's talk about efficiency and your volume increases. You mentioned that the additional volume improves the company's efficiency even after repriced yields, and that maybe isn't going up that much. You have a considerable operation ramp up as of Q3, and I'm talking about phase I.
You also commented that freight or transportation supply and demand, we still need to see what's gonna happen to corn, the pricing dynamics is pointing to flat prices in Q2. What kind of a margin or are there any other metrics you use? How much efficiency will you be able to gain in your operation, considering all of these volumes? Is that an ideal level? I'm not gonna go over this volume because, then my margin will suffer. I'd just like to understand how you think about that and what your math is.
Hi, Filipe. This is Guilherme. I think the best way to answer your question is to give you a practical example of what happened this quarter in the Northern Operations. Total volume that was transported in the Northern Operations was 27%, so there was a 27% increase.
When you look at the agricultural portfolio, that had a 31% increase. Obviously, there's a variable cost to transport all of that volume, which is growing. However, considering our operational leverage by cost dilution, some costs go up a lot less than the volumes, and you can see that in fuels and fertilizers, for instance. The total growth in the Northern Operations was less than 8%. That has been a very positive journey for the company over the last few years. This quarter, specifically, our efficiency was more than 6% in the unit cost of diesel consumption. We are looking for levers to do that. We have been looking for a few years. I can tell you as an example, more efficient trains, longer trains, heavier cars. We've been capturing that in 2025 and in 2026.
Some of those initiatives are also bringing in additional gains through technology and the improvement of some rail processes and our cost structure as a whole. That's not all. When it comes to fixed costs and SG&A, as they increase because we're expanding our operations this year, there's a new terminal coming in, more rolling stock coming in that needs to be up and running. If you look at the SG&A fixed cost, our efficiency is more than 15%. As we transport higher volumes, which is our operational leverage model, that's what Pedro said, every additional ton will provide us better returns because we are diluting our cost base. That is a goal and a metric that we use, with which we have been very successful in diluting costs in the last few years.
Let me just jump in to add a comment. Hi, this is Pedro, Filipe. You mentioned market penetration. Let me give you the example of the phase I of FNS, which will open this quarter. That terminal has a 10 million tons a year capacity for grains. That means that in 2027, for instance, we'll increase our grains volume that's transported to 10 million tons. If we try to allocate 10 million tons in one year in the market, then we would need to bring prices down more than would be healthy for our margins and for the allocation of that volume.
We will use up those additional 10 million tons over the years, whether it's gonna be in three or four years or 2.5 Years. We'll practically decide that when the time is right, when the decision needs to be made by monitoring the market and current circumstances, logistic pressure at the time.
I can guarantee you that there won't be an additional 10 million ton of grains in the Northern Operations. We'll decide on the pace depending on the scenario. Anyway, I just wanted to give you a bit more color because obviously we do look at how much volume we can capture without putting pressure on market prices so that we can be competitive and occupy natural spaces for us, but without destroying structural value for the whole chain. We have no interest in destroying prices in the mid to the long term in our segment. We're very aware in our positions as leaders, and we're very aware of our responsibility in the logistics market.
That's very clear. Thank you very much.
The Q&A is now concluded. I would like to turn the floor over to Mr. Guilherme Machado for his closing remarks.
Thanks, everyone, for joining us on this earnings release call. This first quarter was very much in line with what we had planned for the first quarter of 2026. We have disclosed the volume. We're very confident about the company's ability to execute on those volumes and to go over 90 billion RTK a year. Our pricing strategy has been very consistent, as Pedro said. Our pricing repositioning cycle is already bearing results, bringing in consistent volumes, the company's fair share in the market and healthy competitiveness for our business model. As for the second half of 2026, there's still some capacity to be contracted. We're seeing some positive scenarios considering crop sizes, logistic pressure, increase in diesel prices. We'll be monitoring transportation behaviors very closely. We'll continue on delivering phase one of Mato Grosso rail within schedule and budget.
The company is totally liquid. There are resources available to meet our cash needs over the year. We have credit lines that have been approved that we haven't used so far. We're on track with our plan.