Can corn compete in Brazil with cane? Ethanol Baron’s Summit Group to develop $140M corn ethanol project in Mato Grosso

In Iowa, after tipping earlier in the year that there were substantial opportunities in Brazil and Argentina for corn ethanol expansion, “Ethanol Baron” Bruce Rastetter and his Summit Group have announced a $140 million corn ethanol project for Lucas do Rio Verde in Mato Grosso state. Summit Group will finance the project through its US Farmland Fund private equity arm in partnership with Fiagril. ICM is providing the technology and agribusiness concern Marino Franz will build the plant, according to press reports.

Rastetter told Agwired in an interview that he was impressed with the Brazilian yields from double-cropping — getting a crop of soybeans and either corn or cotton, from the same land, in the one planting year — a fucntion of the year-round growing conditions in Mato Grosso.

Earlier this year Rastetter predicted that corn ethanol would prove economically competitive with sugarcane ethanol in Brazil in a speech in January at the Land Investment Expo, adding that “”The reality is that when we have $100-a-barrel oil, it just makes sense to blend ethanol.”

Rastetter’s annual summer Iowa bash, which was held last month, has become a gathering point for 2016 GOP Presidential hopefuls — with Texas senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio in attendance at this year’s get-together.