Brazil’s Raizen drops plan to buy Usinas Itamarati

The Brazilian daily Valor Economico reported that Raizen, the sugar and ethanol joint venture of Brazilian sector player Cosan and Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell, has dropped its plans to buy local sector player Usinas Itamarati.
Raizen has given up reportedly because of Itamarati’s outstanding debt of around BRL1.5 billion (US$ 743.6 million). Another factor that worked against Itamarati is the location of its production units, which are far from the main consumer centers and ports in Brazil’s southeastern region. Raizen said the unfavorable location restricts the company’s sales in the domestic market.
Itamarati, which is located in the Nova Olimpia municipality of central-western Mato Grosso state, has a capacity to process 6.3 million tons of sugar cane per year. In the 2011-12 crop year, the company crushed approximately 4.4 million tons of sugar cane. (August 17, 2012)