Brazil promotes sugarcane technology in Africa
Gazeta Mercantil 04/03/2009
The increasing investments in projects for biofuels in the African countries increase the business opportunities in machines and agricultural devices within the next years. Researches in alternative energies are concentrated mainly in countries that do not produce oil, where they gained relevance in view of the need of alternatives to diversify the economy. For Brazil, the windows appears at a moment in which it is sought the consolidation of ethanol as an international commodity.
To climb up to such a level, one of the requirements pointed out by specialists is the spread of the technology and production to other countries. This way, Brazil would be consolidated as a world reference in the supply of equipment for the sugarcane ethanol. Rodrigo Azeredo, from the Ministry of Foreign Relations (MRE, in Portuguese), explained that financing lines for export are being studied in order to make it possible to do business with other countries. According to information of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), in 2008, the African continent was the fifth greater buyer from Brazil, generating US$ 10.1 billion in foreign values. In the same period, the region consumed 65% of manufactured products. "Our goal is to increase the sales in nearly 45% in the countries of the African block this year", said Michael Steenmeijer, commercial manager of BRN, a producer and exporter of sugarcane loaders. He observes the region has great development potential because it has low level of technology. In order to do so, the company, which exports to Africa for more than 14 years, should launch a cane harvester to ease the harvest. The perspectives are also positive for Luiz Guilherme Bueno, from Emit Brasil, exporting company specialized in the commerce of large-size machines, like tractors and harvesters. "These are increasing and promising economies. This commercial flow grows at rates of 30% a year", he emphasized. As he said, the expectation is to sell US$ 4 million in commercial business with Africans in 2009.