Bunge To Invest $750M In Brazil Ethanol Operation

Bunge Ltd. plans to invest $750 million in its existing sugar and ethanol operations in Brazil, the company said Friday.

Bunge intends to raise its cane-crushing capacity at three existing mills to 13.4 million metric tons in three years from 7.4 million tons currently, a company spokeswoman said.

In total, Bunge's eight Brazilian mills should crush 21 million tons of cane in the new 2010-11 crop season.

Meanwhile, according to local press reports, Bunge is a potential suitor to buy Brazilian sugar and ethanol mill Usina Mandu in Sao Paulo state, which crushed 2.8 million metric tons of cane last year.

The potential acquisition would follow on the heels of Bunge's acquisition of five mills of Grupo Moema for $1.5 billion in January.

In an interview published by the local Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper Friday, Bunge's Brazilian unit president, Pedro Parente, said that Bunge also aims to focus on integrating its food and fertilizer units by mid-2010.

Brazil is the world's No. 1 sugarcane producer.

source: tradingmarkets