The National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) has approved financing worth R$500 million for Coamo Agroindustrial Cooperativa to build a plant to produce corn ethanol in the city of Campo Mourão (PR). With resources from the Climate Fund, the plant will have the capacity to process 1.700 tons of corn per day and produce 765 liters of ethanol per day.
The project, which has a total value of R$1,7 billion, will also result in the daily production of 510 tons of animal feed meal (DDGS) and 34 tons of corn oil, co-products generated in the corn ethanol process after the fermentation stage. DDGS (Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles) is a meal rich in fiber and protein that can be incorporated into animal feed, and corn oil can be used to produce biodiesel.
The complex will be built in the Cooperative's Industrial Park, on the banks of BR-487, which currently has nine industrial plants in various segments, the majority of which are in the human and animal food sector, such as Wheat Mill, Cotton Spinning, Margarine Industry, Vegetable Fats, Soybean Oil Industry, Soybean Oil Refinery, Soybean Oil Bottling, Coffee Roasting, Cotton Spinning and Feed Industry.
“Projects with this profile, financed by the Climate Fund, add value to products, such as corn, with the production of ethanol and inputs for the animal protein sector. In addition, ethanol significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, a priority of the industrial policy of President Lula’s government, which prioritizes investments in a green and competitive economy,” explains BNDES president Aloizio Mercadante.
The Bank's Director of Productive Development, Innovation and Foreign Trade, José Luís Gordon, adds that “the objective of the Climate Fund is to foster the energy transition through the adoption of renewable sources, where ethanol plays a fundamental role in the decarbonization of the transport sector, in line with the guidelines of the New Industry Brazil.”
According to Coamo’s CEO, Airton Galinari, BNDES’ support for the corn ethanol industry project is in line with the cooperative’s Sustainability Policy. “This industry is completely sustainable, since it will produce a biofuel from a renewable raw material, corn. In addition, the thermal energy matrix is eucalyptus from its own reforestation, and will generate 30 megawatts of electricity for Coamo’s entire industrial park,” says Galinari.
From January to October 2024, BNDES credit approvals for the biofuels sector totaled R$3,9 billion, the second highest in the historical series, which began in 2005. The record approvals of R$4,5 billion were achieved in 2010.
Headquartered in Campo Mourão (PR), it has 10 employees and reached 2023 direct members in 32 (70% of whom are small farmers), establishing itself as the largest cooperative in Latin America. It currently has 115 receiving units distributed across 75 municipalities in Paraná, Santa Catarina and Mato Grosso do Sul, operating with storage, supply of agricultural inputs and implements, technical assistance and industrial production.
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