January 18, 2008

Multigrain to invest US$500 million in Brazil's Bahia state

Brazilian agribusiness company Multigrain plans to invest US$500 million in soy, cotton and ethanol activities in the northeastern state of Bahia.

The largest part of the investment will be used to develop an ethanol mill to produce 66 million litres of fuel by 2011, said Giuseppe di Carpegna, the company's director of ethanol operations said Thursday.

Multigrain's development will take place on an 82,000-hectare site in western Bahia, where the company is set to build a cotton processing mill.

Multigrain will also adapt 40 percent of the site to grow sugar cane, while the rest will be used to produce soy and cotton, he said.

Brazil produces ethanol from sugarcane and is the world's leading ethanol exporter.