Some of the world’s top commodity traders, investors, and highway developers are beating a path to Cuiabá, the capital city of Mato Grosso, Brazil’s third largest state. They are lured by an upcoming road concession program, Pró-Estradas Concessoês, devised for the state’s rich highlands where tons of soybeans and grains get stuck on the muddy dirt roads in the rainy season and fail to reach export markets. Short of funds, Mato Grosso is poised to offer a DBFOM 30-year concession for its roads under a multi-stage program.

Some of the commodity traders are looking to team up with highway developers as investors in the highway concessions, while others are going it alone by hiring contractors to do the road works and maintenance.