Ningxia Eppen should invest more than US$600 million in Mato Grosso

The Chinese delegation from the company Ningxia Eppen assessed that Mato Grosso has all the predicates to receive an investment of approximately 600 million dollars in the corn-based amino acids factory. The assessment was made after the delegation spent three days in Mato Grosso, passing through Cuiabá, Nova Mutum and Cáceres, where they visited the Export Processing Zone (ZPE).

In Mato Grosso, the Chinese met with vice-governor Otaviano Pivetta, the mayors of Nova Mutum and Cáceres, and the Secretary of State for Economic Development, César Miranda.

One of the things that caught the most attention from investors was the use of biomass in industries, which is the main source of clean energy to make factory boilers work, generally coming from organic vegetable matter, such as wood chips, sawmill waste, eucalyptus, rice straw, grass, sugarcane bagasse, among others. Unlike China, which uses coal, which is a fossil fuel, to generate energy in industries. However, Chinese legislation does not allow the use of products such as wood chips as biomass for thermal energy.

Competitive prices

Furthermore, the competitive prices for a bag of corn in Nova Mutum also attracted attention. Businesspeople comment that Mato Grosso has an 80% chance of hosting the company's next industry.

“Mato Grosso is a good place. As we can see, there are many resources here. I believe that in the future there will be a lot of potential here, if we are producing products here, we will be able to export to China and import from there”, commented the manager of the Technology Department at Ningxia Eppen, Bai Pengya.

According to the Superintendent of Agribusiness at the State Secretariat for Economic Development (Sedec), Linacis Silva, who accompanied the Chinese delegation on the visit to the ZPE, they realized that the location will greatly facilitate exports and easier access to natural gas, due to Proximity to Bolivia also draws attention.

“The use of biomass allows them to increase production, as they will be able to produce other products necessary for the production of amino acids, without the need to import them. As it is also the largest corn producer in the country, the state may have preference,” he explained.

However, the approval that will define whether the amino acid factory can be installed in Mato Grosso or not also depends on the Chinese Government. The project has the prospect of annual production of various amino acids of around 350 thousand tons, by-products of around 200 thousand tons, generating around a thousand jobs in the State.

In a meeting at Palácio Paiaguás, Secretary César Miranda highlighted that Mato Grosso is the largest producer of corn in the country and corn ethanol, this aroused the interest of Ningxia Eppen executives in visiting the State and getting to know the best locations for installing the industry, that is close to corn production.