Chinese commodities trader COFCO, Brazilian grains group AMaggi and a Shell-Cosan joint venture are working on plans to build their first corn ethanol plants in Brazil, according to their suppliers, breaking sugarcane’s lock on the biofuel locally.
Reuters reports the wave of fresh interest from some of the world’s biggest energy and grains players suggests corn ethanol is ready for the big time in Brazil, where sugarcane has been virtually the only source of ethanol in the world’s No. 2 producer of the biofuel.
The impact on commodity markets could be far-reaching, as new plants challenge US ethanol for sales in northeast Brazil and dent corn exports, which grew fourfold in the past decade.
