SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazil, the world's leading ethanol exporter, is set to invest 25 billion Brazilian reals ($13.1 billion) in 89 new sugar and ethanol mills between 2007 and 2011, according to the latest study conducted by the state-owned development bank BNDES.
The study demonstrates an acceleration in the number of new sugar and ethanol mills set to be installed in the country in coming years. In October last year, the country's Union of Sugarcane Associations, or Unica, projected 77 new confirmed mills across the country in the six years to 2012-13.
Brazil, the world's leading ethanol exporter, has stirred keen interest amongst both local and international players, as the world's lowest-cost biofuel producer in a time of high oil prices and heightened global warming concerns.
Of the 89 projects in the BNDES study, a full 51 projects are already being constructed: including 31 mills located in Sao Paulo, nine mills in Minas Gerais, and six new mills in Goias, the BNDES said.
In addition, there are three mills being constructed in Mato Grosso do Sul, as well as one apiece in Parana and Rio de Janeiro states. The BNDES is currently studying the financing of 22 of these new projects, worth a total of BRL1.66 billion ($873.7 million) if all of the projects are approved, a BNDES spokesman said in a phone interview with Dow Jones Newswires.
The average cost of building a new mill with the capacity of crushing 2 million metric tons of sugarcane per harvest is BRL280 million ($147.3 million), including BRL75 million in agricultural investments and BRL70 million to build an ethanol distillery, the BNDES said.
The BNDES study was concluded early this year and published in June, the BNDES spokesman said. Since the study was concluded, however, dozens more projects have been announced in Brazil by private equity-backed players with deep pockets.
These include hefty new investments by the George Soros-backed AdecoAgro agribusiness company as well as by the Brazilian Renewable Energy Co., or Brenco, which has financing from billionaires Vinod Khosla and Stephen Case.
A week and a half ago, Brazil's newest entrant, construction giant Odebrecht, announced that it planned to acquire or build several mills in order to become one of the sector's largest producers over the next decade. Brazil is the world's No. 2 ethanol producer after the U.S., as well as the world's top sugar producer and exporter.
-By Grace Fan; Dow Jones Newswires; 5511 3145 1489; brazildowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires