BNDES supports FS growth plan with 500 million reais from the Climate Fund

This is an automated translation of the original release published in Portuguese.

By BNDES

September 13, 2024

The National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) has approved financing of R$500 million for FS, one of the largest ethanol companies in Brazil, with the aim of expanding the company's production capacity, which has a growth plan focused on the state of Mato Grosso. With units installed in Lucas do Rio Verde, Sorriso and Primavera do Leste, the new unit will be implemented in Querência, in the northeast region of the state. In addition to producing corn ethanol, the company has cutting-edge technology for the production of DDG (Dried Distillers Grains), animal nutrition products with high nutritional content intended for feeding cattle, pigs, poultry, fish and pets; corn oil and bioelectricity, from renewable biomass.

“We secured this funding to support the expansion of the company’s production capacity, which is aligned with our deleveraging and capital structure adjustment journey. As soon as we complete this process, we will begin phase I of the works in Querência,” says FS CEO Rafael Abud. “The Querência region has a well-established corn production capacity and great growth potential. This location allows us to structure a logistics strategy for distributing our products to various regions in the state of Mato Grosso, as well as to the states in the North and Northeast of the country,” adds Abud.

“The complementarity between the New PAC, the New Industry Brazil, and the Lula government’s Ecological Transformation Plan has allowed us to focus our public policy efforts on development, with improvements in infrastructure, the acceleration of the energy transition, and decarbonization and neo-industrialization. This project is an example of the synergy of these three public policies and the importance of BNDES, which has been a decisive agent of credit,” said BNDES President Aloizio Mercadante.

José Luís Gordon, director of Productive Development, Innovation and Foreign Trade at BNDES, says the growth in the supply of corn ethanol has been essential to guarantee the supply of ethanol in Brazil, having reached almost 6 billion liters in 2023, which represents about 20% of national production. “Brazilian decarbonization is a pillar of the Mais Produção Plan and has immense potential in the biofuels sector. It is a strategic differentiator for Brazil and companies can count on the New Climate Fund to support green industry and technological development aimed at a fair ecological transition,” explained Gordon.