January 17, 2007

Hong-Kong Noble Group to invest in Brazil ethanol production

Hong-Kong-based Noble Group plans to invest between US$150-250 million in ethanol production in Brazil, Brazilian news site Invertia-Brasil said.

The biofuels market is becoming a truly global one as countries move away from relying on petroleum from instable regions and switch to ethanol, biodiesel and biomass.

Noble Group, which accounts for 10 percent of ethanol exports from Brazil to the US is one of the major players in the Brazilian market and seems intent on investing in production plants in the South American nation to benefit from this forecast rising global demand. Incidentally, this will be the group's first ethanol producing mill in Brazil.

The group which was earlier considering a similar project in China later chose Brazil because of changes in the legal system there according to Ricardo Leiman, chief operating officer of Noble Group.

Noble would soon be acquiring a sugar and ethanol mill in Brazil, Leiman said.