BP and Copersucar join up to operate major ethanol terminal

BP Biofuels and Copersucar have agreed to a new joint venture to own and operate a major ethanol storage terminal in Brazil. According to a statement from BP, the aim of the new terminal is to ‘better and flexibly’ connect ethanol production with the country’s main fuels markets.

Copersucar is a leading sugar and ethanol trader, with the ‘largest sugar and ethanol storage capacity’ in Brazil. BP Biofuels, part of BP’s Alternative Energy business, is a major producer of ethanol from sugarcane in Brazil.

The equally split joint venture will own and operate Terminal Copersucar de Etanol in Paulinia in the State of Sao Paulo. The facility is currently solely owned by Copersucar. In operation since 2014, the terminal has ten tanks with a total storage capacity of 180 million litres of ethanol and moves around 2.3 billion litres per year, with the possibility of further expansion.

“The new joint venture will optimise ethanol logistics, with competitiveness gains and more flexibility in the way we serve the market. In addition to the values we share, the partnership with BP reinforces our commitment to the development of biofuels in Brazil,” said Paulo Roberto de Souza, president of Copersucar.

Dev Sanyal, BP’s CEO Alternative Energy, said: “BP is committed to the dual mission of delivering the energy that the world needs while advancing the low carbon world that we all want. We believe that biofuels offers one of the best large-scale solutions for decarbonising the transport sector and demand will continue to grow for decades to come. Brazil is one of the largest markets globally for ethanol as a fuel and this collaboration with Copersucar enables us to extend and expand our existing value chain to meet its growing demand.”

The transaction and formation of the joint venture will be subject to the necessary approvals of relevant supervisory bodies. Commercial details of this transaction are not being released.