Odebrecht to Invest $1.05 Billion in Three Ethanol Plants in Brazil’s Goias

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--ETH Bioenergia, a biodiesel company from the Odebrecht Group, will invest $1.05 billion in the construction of three –sugar-ethanol plants in Goias State, Brazil, to strengthen the conglomerate’s expansion into west-central Brazil. The three processing units will produce 15 million tons of sugar cane at 5 million tons each, and $350 million will be invested in each plant. The three plants will produce sugar and ethanol and also co-generate energy from the sugar cane bagasse. The first plant will be in Goias in Cacu City. This plant is expected to begin operation after the 2009-10 harvest. Odebrecht owns 80% of the unit, and the remaining 20% is owned by Ricardo Sampaio of the Mendo Sampaio Group (Alagoas State). The other two units that expected to begin operations in 2010 or 2011 will be solely controlled by Odebrecht. The second unit will also be in Cacu, and the third will be in Itaruma, about 50 kilometers away from the first two.

ETH Bioenergia President Clayton Hygino Miranda confirmed that the investments in Goias is part of Odebrecht’s expansion in this sector. For more information, view related July 20, 2007, article - Odebrecht to Invest in Brazilian Ethanol. Odebrecht’s participation in the sugar-ethanol field was announced this year. In May 2007, the company acquired Alcidia plant in Teodoro Sampaio in Sao Paulo, and two months later it began constructing a second plant in Pontal do Paranapanema, Sao Paulo, with Alexandre Candido de Paula, a partner of Reebok and ACP Agropecuaria. Odebrecht invested $300 million in both projects.

Odebrecht group already has a consolidated position in the construction and petrochemical areas. In 2006, Construtora Norberto Odebrecht (CNO), the conglomerate’s construction company, invoiced $4.02 billion, and Braskem, in the petrochemical sector, invoiced $8.9 billion. The Odebrecht group plans to consolidate a total investment of $5 billion in the biodiesel market until 2015, including the projects it has already realized. The company also plans to become the third largest ethanol producer in Brazil with at least 10 producing units by 2015.

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