Family-run sugar, ethanol mills in Brazil must consolidate, say analysts

In Brazil, analysts commenting on the merger of Louis Dreyfus’ ethanol unit and Santelise Vale noted that “small mills will be squeezed out” in a looming consolidation of the 160 sugar and ethanol groups that control 430 mills and have been running at a loss since 2007. A Wall Street Journal report said that analysts expect that the worldwide consolidation that took place in soy and cotton to be extended to sugar.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

India’s Punjab state to revive six sugar mills for ethanol production; will provide power to the grid

In India, the Punjab state government will restart six cooperative sugar mills and will produce ethanol. The government said that operations at nine other sugar mills in the state would not be affecte...

Infinity Bio-Energy leases 31,000 hectares from Jamaica for $1.55 million to augment sugar production at five mills

In Brazil, Infinity Bio-Energy said that it will pay Jamaica $50 per hectare for 31,000 hectares, or $1.55 million per year in lease payments, for cane land adjacent to five sugar factories it purchas...

Brazil’s sugarcane boom in trouble; land prices falling, projects delayed

In Brazil, the end of the commodities boom, with the resultant fall in ethanol and sugar prices, has caused the price of land to drop in Brazil by up to 50 percent in some sugarcane growing areas, acc...

India’s Bihar chief minister demands new Indian gov’t remove order permitting ethanol production only at existing sugar mills

In India, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has demanded that Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh withdraw the order that permits only existing sugar mills to produce ethanol directly from sugar cane...

India moves into Brazilian sugar, ethanol – Shree Renuka aquires VDI for $240 million

In India, Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd acquired Brazil’s Vale Do Ivaí SA Açúcar e Álcool for $240 million (Rs 1,112 crore). It is the first Brazilian acquisition by an Indian sugar company - the two ...

Brazilian analyst says ethanol production will double, industry will shrink from 200 to 30 competitors by 2015

In Brazil, analyst Julio Maria Borges has projected that Brazilian sugar cane output will double by 2015, but the industry will consolidate from 200 producers to 30, as producers vertically integrate ...