Noble Group launches US$ 58.8 million terminal in Santos
10/13/2010 11h34
Noble Group launches US$ 58.8 million terminal in Santos
DCI
Foreseeing earnings of nearly US$ 45 billion this year in the world, the Noble Group, one of the largest global trading companies of the agricultural, mineral and energy supply chain, launched last week a dry bulk terminal in the port of Santos (SP), with investments of nearly R$ 100 million (US$ 58.8 million). With the new investment, the company, headquartered in Hong Kong, China, declares it hopes to increase its presence in the country and sees its businesses in Brazil yield, until the end of the year, more than R$ 1 billion (US$ 588.2 million), compared to the R$ 637 million (US$ 323.4 million) achieved in 2009.The group that operates from the origin and production to the carriage now has with a 10-thousand-square-meter terminal for grain that can store 90 tons of sugar, soy, corn and soy bran. It is expected that the terminal operates 2.3 million tons of cargo a year. Since July, when it started operating under tests, more than 600 thousand tons of commodities, sugar in particular, have already been exported.According to the founder of the company, Richard Elman, Noble also expects to expand its businesses in the port of Santos. On a visit to Brazil, Elman also declared the investment made in Santos is a good example of how the group intends to integrate the production of the main commodities to destination markets. "The operations in the port perfectly work as an export platform for our sugar plants located in the interior of São Paulo. We have already invested more than R$ 1 billion (US$ 588.2 million) in our business in Brazil, and will continue investing as much as required if we find the right business: if we have the appropriate support and profitability, we will be there", he stressed out.The R$ 1 billion (US$ 588.2 million) include, besides the new terminal, two sugar and ethanol plants in the interior of São Paulo, and warehouses for the storage of products. The group is also investing in a soy crushing unit that will be inaugurated in Mato Grosso between 2011 and 2012, and a fuel terminal in the Port of Itaqui, in the State of Maranhão, which will be inaugurated later this year. The expectation of the company is that the growth of its businesses in Brazil exceeds 20% a year. On his turn, the Executive President of the Noble Group, Tobias Brown, said that the greatest difficulty in Brazil does not regard infrastructure, but the lack of specialized labor. Brown has also stressed out that the company is investing in the whole world, which explains the growth of the earnings: from US$ 31 billion last year to the US$ 45 billion expected for this.
