Cosan sugarcane processing to break record
Valor Econômico
The Cosan group, biggest global sugar and alcohol company, should break a new record in the sugarcane processing this 2009/10 harvest, with the crushing of 56 million tons, a volume that exceeds the previous cycle in 27%. With the taking over of Nova América, ended in June, the group became the owner of 23 productive units in operation this harvest, with a total crushing capacity of 60 million tons of sugarcane.
The company should produce 4.2 million tons of sugar, an increase of 29% over the previous cycle, and 2.1 billion liters of alcohol, a 24% increase, informed Pedro Mizutani, general vice-president of the group. The company should also continue with the heavy investments in energy cogeneration. The expectation is that the investments remain at R$ 1.4 billion (US$ 736.8 million) this current harvest. From the total sugar that will be produced, nearly 80% will be aimed at the foreign market. The company has already set nearly 50% of the prices of the product aimed at the foreign market in advance. For alcohol, nearly 20% of the total production will be exported.
On Friday, the group informed it reached the best operating result of its history in the first quarter of the 2009/10 harvest. The net income of the group increased 457%, to R$ 3.6 billion (US$ 1.9 billion) in the first quarter, compared to the same period of last year. Cosan Combustíveis e Lubrificantes was responsible for 68.5% of the earnings (RS$ 2.4 billion / US$ 1.3 billion). The company ended with record net profits of R$ 337.3 million (US$ 177.5 million), against a net loss of R$ 58.1 million (US$ 31.7 million) in the same period of last year.
The exchange variation over the indebtedness of the company had relevant impact in making profits. In addition to that, the good performance in the division of distribution of fuels in the period and the strong increase in the value of sugar in the international market helped support the good results of the company in the period.