September 30, 2008

Noble Group aims to make Brazil its fifth largest base 

Hong Kong-based commodities trading firm, Noble Group aims to make Brazil its fifth largest operation, according to  Brazilian daily O Estado de S. Paulo.

Noble started its Brazilian operations by exporting grains, but it now also has investments in logistics, ethanol and sugar mills, and mining.

Last year, for instance, the group started construction of a terminal at the Port of Santos, in Sao Paulo state, its first such unit in the country.

Noble will use the terminal, whose value was not unveiled, to ship more than half of its grain and sugar production to China, Middle East and Europe.

The Santos terminal, with storage capacity of up to 90,000 tonnes of sugar and 73,000 tonnes of grains (soy or corn), will start operations in November 2009.

In addition, Noble bought in 2007 an ethanol and sugar mill in Votuporanga (Sao Paulo), and has since then quadrupled the facility's production capacity.

The group has also acquired a stake in local miner Mhag, which owns iron ore reserves in the Northeast, as well as a fertilizer producer.

O Estado said total investments under way by Noble in Brazil are estimated at US$600 million.

Noble Group, whose global revenue surpassed US$11 billion last year, is listed in Singapore.