Brazil ETH to spend R6bn in ethanol-to-PE project

07 May 2008 23:19  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Brazil’s ETH Bioenergy will invest Brazilian reais (R) 6bn ($3.6bn) in the next seven years to make ethanol that will be used as feedstock for polyethylene (PE), a company official said on Wednesday.

ETH plans to build 10 ethanol mills with combined sugarcane capacity of 45m tonnes/year by 2015, said ETH director Eduardo Carvalho during an industry event in New York.

Carvalho said the technology is already in place to produce ethylene from ethanol. The monomer will then be used as feedstock at two existing PE plants in Brazil, he said.

ETH also plans to launch the construction of its own PE plant later this year, with a capacity of 300,000 tonnes/year and a completion date scheduled for mid 2010, he said.

Brazil could use up to 4bn litres/year of ethanol to make ethylene by 2015 due heavy investments by other groups also pursuing the ethanol-to-PE production chain, Carvalho said.

That is about 10% of the ethanol Brazil will use in fuel transportation in 2015, he added.

($1 = R1.66)

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By: William Lemos
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