JBS and DuPont bet in Biofuel
O Estado de S. Paulo 07/28/10
After putting into operation the unit of Pirapozinho (SP) to produce sodium methylate, used in the production of biodiesel, DuPont and JBS make plans to increase the production. It is the first large size plant in Brazil and it currently imports nearly all the sodium methylate used here. Since January this year, the addition of 5% of biofuel to the diesel sold in the country became required. It is the so-called B5. With that, an annual market of 2.3 billion tons of biofuel a year was created. To meet such demand, 45 thousand tons of sodium methylate are necessary .At first, the companies will use half of the installed capacity of 60 thousand tons of sodium methylate a year. But over time, according to Vinícius Soares, Executive of the DuPont Division of Chemical solutions for Latin America, the partners intend to increase the production, either with the Pirapozinho plant or with the construction of another unit. "We are analyzing to see how the market will behave. We can produce more from the current plant or build a new manufacturing plant", he explains.
The plant of Pirapozinho began operating at the beginning of the month and it belonged to Bertin before being acquired by JBS, in December last year, according to José Luiz Medeiros, Director of New Businesses of JBS. The main advantage of the plant is the location. Neighbor of Presidente Prudente, the plant is supplied by biofuel producers in Sao Paulo, Mato Grosso and Paraná. Besides producing the sodium methylate in Brazil, DuPont has three units in the United States.