Ethanol producer announces land deal

Date added: 27th August, 2008 at 10:22 (view all articles from August, 2008)

Categories: Economy

US real estate investors have moved to take advantage of Brazil's thriving ethanol industry by forming a joint venture with the country's leading producer Cosan.

The new business, which will be known as Radar, will acquire farmland on which to grow sugar for Cosan's mills.

Paulo Diniz, chief financial officer for Cosan, told Reuters that plans are already in place to purchase two pieces of land worth $185 million (£100 million) each.

He explained that the decision to form the joint venture had been taken because every time the existing company announced plans to build a new production facility, the cost of land in the surrounding area shot up.

Radar will attempt to buy farmland before details of new processing plants are made public, Mr Diniz added.

Cosan is also working with two of its competitors to construct a $1 billion ethanol pipeline across the country.

Brazil has established itself as one of the largest ethanol producers in the world, a development which has helped to fuel the country's economic growth.

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