Cosan to export bioethanol to Japan

Cosan SA, Brazil’s largest producer of sugar and ethanol, has signed a three-year contract with Mitsubishi Corp. to export bioethanol to the Japanese market starting next year. Cosan will ship the bioethanol in amounts of as much as 80,000 kiloliters a year. Mitsubishi will the import it as the raw material for making ethyl tertiary butyl ether, a gasoline additive used for production of biogasoline. Brazilian-made ethanol is usually first processed into ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) before being shipped to Japan. Cosan exports around 20% of its total yearly bioethanol output, but mostly to Europe and the U.S. The Brazilian conglomerate’s business to date with Asia has been limited to shipments of bioethanol for use as an industrial fuel. (July 15, 2009)