Colombia's ICT ministry is earmarking 4bn pesos (US$2.1mn) to provide technology training, the ministry said in a statement.
Education efforts will be focused on micro SMEs, and the ministry expects to call for applications in August.
A total of 3,477 micro SMEs have benefitted from previous training initiatives carried out between 2008 and the present.
***
The Chilean division of Spanish data management solutions provider PowerData has received ISO 9001:2008 certification, PowerData said in a statement.
PowerData's South America regional director, Josep Tarruella, said the certification will strengthen the division's products, services and processes.
PowerData has three offices in Spain. In Latin America, the company has an office in Santiago, Chile, and another in Argentine capital Buenos Aires.
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Uruguay's e-government development agency Agesic has rolled out a new search tool that allows citizens to view government information, the Uruguayan president's office said in a statement.
The tool is designed to be similar to Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) search engine.
Agesic director Jose Clastornik said the initiative is aimed at "encouraging access to public information through an agile instrument that is customized for citizen use."
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Latin American IT products distributor Aktio, a unit of Brazilian IT firm Grupo Açao, has signed up Argentine IT firm Uxor IT as a new channel partner, Aktio said in a statement.
According to the agreement, Uxor IT will distribute IBM (NYSE: IBM) software solutions, and also provide IT security, Web 2.0 and integration services.
Uxor IT has offices in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Mexico and the US.
By Matthew Malinowski
* T-Systems acquires SAP's hosting unit - Mexico
German IT services provider T-Systems has acquired the hosting arm of SAP (NYSE: SAP) Mexico and Central America, the former said in a statement without providing hard figures.
T-Systems will now offer extra services such as administration and implementation of applications to more than 57,000 users from Mexico.
T-Systems - part of German telecoms operator Deutsche Telekom - has a long-standing partnership with SAP through which it provides services to around 1.5mn SAP users globally with a workforce of around 3,000 SAP consultants.
* SAP's Q2 sees double-digit growth in Latin America - Regional
SAP (NYSE: SAP) recorded double-digit growth in Latin America during the second quarter compared to the year-ago quarter, the company said in a statement without providing hard figures.
Revenues in the Americas, excluding the US, leapt 29% to 275mn euros (US$357mn), up from 214mn euros year-over-year.
Globally, SAP posted net profits of 491mn euros in the second quarter, up 15% from 426mn euros reported in the year ago-quarter, the company said in a statement.
Total revenues for the company rose 12% to 2.89bn euros, compared with 2.58bn euros in 2Q09. Of that total, software revenues hit 637mn, representing a 17% hike year-over-year.
The company also announced it has completed the cash tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock of Sybase, which will continue to operate as a separate company.
SAP adjusted its full-year projections to take into account the acquisition of Sybase, and now anticipates 9-11% growth at constant currencies from 8.2bn euros during 2009.
Follow this link (http://www.sap.com/about/investor/press.epx?pressid=13632) to see the full statement.
* Desca forges alliance with Aspect - Regional
US contact center platform provider Aspect Software has signed a reseller agreement with Latin American telecoms and networking solutions provider Desca, the companies said in a joint statement.
Under the agreement, Desca will distribute and implement Aspect products in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru, Venezuela and the Caribbean.
The partnership will target the finance, outsourcing and cable vertical sectors.
"This alliance is aimed at strengthening Desca's offerings at a regional level and with the focus of contact center solutions to resolve business problems for large companies, such as customer service and billing," said Fernando Rodriguez, CTO of Desca.
* Sagem, Sonda challenge national registry tender process - Chile
Chilean IT systems integrator Sonda and French biometric technology company Sagem Securite have started legal proceedings against the Chilean national registry with allegations that its tender process to supply updated ID cards and passports was illegal, local paper Diario Financiero reported.
The contract was awarded to Spanish systems integrator Indra on July 16 after a process which lasted two and a half years.
Sagem has reportedly accused the winning company of failing to keep its bid guarantee documentation up to date, letting its US$500,000 guarantee note lapse for 10 days before renewing it.
Chilean IT group Coasin was earlier eliminated from the bidding process for that same reason.
Meanwhile, Sonda is requesting that the national registry reconsiders its decision to oust the company from the bidding after judging its face-recognition technology inadequate during the technical phase of the process.
The Chilean company is seeking for the contract to be withdrawn from Indra and for the technical evaluation to be repeated.
Both Sonda and Sagem filed their complaints within the 10 days allowed for participants to register concerns about the tender process.
* TCS resolves to double Latin American revenues in 5 years - Regional
Indian IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) expects to more than double its Latin American sales in the next five years to hit US$1bn with an aggressive expansion strategy, according to international press reports.
The company sees the financial and mining sectors as potential areas of growth for the company in the region.
Latin America is due to see growth of around 5% this year, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
TCS has operations in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, Brasil, Ecuador and Peru.
The company posted global net profits of US$1.45bn in fiscal year 2010, ended March 31, surging 29.0% from US$1.12bn in fiscal 2009, while revenues reached US$6.34bn, 5.38% higher from US$6bn in fiscal 2009.
International IP connectivity solutions provider Global Crossing (Nasdaq: GLBC) saw "healthy demand" in Latin America during the second quarter of the year, with particularly intense activity in Brazil, company CEO John Legere said during a conference call with investors.
"We're also seeing strong demand in our data center business, which primarily benefits our GC Impsat segment as 14 of our 17 data centers are in Latin America," the executive added.
However, despite the demand in Latin America, the company posted a global net loss of US$47mn in the second quarter of the year, compared to a net profit of US$27mn in the same period in 2009, according to the company's earnings statement, "due to unfavorable foreign exchange impacts and, to a lesser degree, an increase in interest expense."
Global Crossing generated revenues of US$630mn in the second quarter, basically flat on the US$633mn posted in the same period last year.
Revenue from the company's "invest and grow" category - the business focused on serving global enterprises and carrier customers, excluding wholesale voice - increased 3% year-over-year to US$555mn.
The GC Impsat unit, through which Global Crossing operates in Latin American markets, generated revenues of US$137mn in the quarter, compared to US$125mn in the year-ago period.
GC Impsat generated a net profit of US$10mn in the period, compared to a net profit of US$18mn in 2Q09.
Legere said that Global Crossing also expanded infrastructure capacity during Q2. "We added capacity on our North American and European terrestrial networks and our subsea networks in the Atlantic and Latin America," he said.
Global Crossing expects revenues from its "invest and grow" category to be US$2.30bn-2.38bn for this year.
The company offers a full range of data, voice and video products to approximately 700 carriers, mobile operators and ISPs. It delivers services to more than 700 cities in over 70 countries.
By Juan Pedro Tomás
Bolivia's President Evo Morales has signed loan agreements totaling US$134mn with the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), which will be used primarily to fund highway and flood control projects.
National roads administrator ABC will use a US$70mn loan to complete construction of several highway projects including the Palo Marcado-Hito BR94, Huachacalla-Pisiga, Huanuni-Bombo-Llallagua and Potosi-Tarija highways as well as the Masicuri bridge.
ABC will use another US$29mn loan for highway rehabilitation projects, state news agency ABI reported.
Water and environment ministry MMAyA will fund two flood protection initiatives in Santa Cruz and Cochabamba departments with a US$22mn loan.
The first project, requiring an investment of 176mn bolivianos (US$25mn), includes channeling and drainage work around the Grande, Pirai and Chane rivers, the ministry said in a release.
The second project involves construction of flood walls and floodways on the Chapare river in Villa Tunari at a cost of some 14mn bolivianos.
CAF expects to approve some US$2.5bn in loans for Bolivia in the next five years, said the corporation's president, Enrique Garcia.
Venezuelan state aluminum reducer Alcasa is producing about 250t/d, less than 50% of the 580t/d the company used to put out, a Sintralcasa union official told BNamericas.
"This is due to two situations that began months ago: The energy crisis that forced us to shut down two production lines and the lack of investments," the union official said.
Last December, Alcasa started the process of permanently shutting down and dismantling reduction lines 1 and 2 at its plants in compliance with the government-implemented power rationing program.
"The result is that only 231 cells of the original 684 installed are in operation," the official said, adding that the sharp drop in production has forced the company to import aluminum rods.
Alcasa may have to draw on the production of compatriot state reducer Venalum to obtain the aluminum needed to reactivate its rolled products area, Sintralcasa union official Carlos Gomez told BNamericas recently.
The Alcasa and Venalum plants are located in the Matanzas industrial zone in Puerto Ordaz city in eastern Venezuela's Guayana region. Both companies are controlled by state heavy industry holding CVG.
By Harvey Beltrán
Spanish group Gas Natural Fenosa's strategic plan envisions capex of 2.4bn-3.6bn euros (US$3.15bn-4.67bn) for Latin America through 2014.
The energy giant aims for 6mn gas and 5.3mn power distribution connections in the region in 2012, and 2.6GW installed capacity from the current 2.11GW.
The company's gas and power connections at the end of the first half this year totaled 5.5mn and 4.77mn, respectively, up 3.2% and 5.4% from 1H09, according to a presentation by CEO Rafael Villaseca.
The group's forecast for connections in the region in 2014 reaches 12mn-13mn, and 2.6-3.5GW installed capacity.
In 1H10, Gas Natural Fenosa's Latin American gas distribution sales rose 6.1% to 92.3GWh and electricity distribution grew 9.7% to 8.97GWh compared to the year-ago period.
On the power generation front, the group saw production in the region dip 1.8% in the period to 10.4TWh, as a result of programmed maintenance at the Tuxpan thermo plant in Mexico.
Villaseca highlighted increased thermo production in Panama and higher prices in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
The Spanish energy giant's power generation, gas and power distribution investment in Latin America in the first six months of 2010 totaled 85mn euros, 29mn euros and 50mn euros, respectively.
Villaseca attributed the higher capex, in part, to the completion of the 400MW Durango combined cycle plant in Mexico that is in the commissioning phase.
For company financials, go to this link (http://portal.gasnatural.com/servlet/ContentServer?gnpage=3-10-1¢ralassetname=3-10-BloqueHTML-447#), and the strategic plan, this link (http://portal.gasnatural.com/servlet/ContentServer?gnpage=3-10-1¢ralassetname=3-10-BloqueHTML-2400)
By David Casallas
Argentine oil firm Capex is continuing to test its RN-X-1001 well on the Loma de Kauffmann concession in Rio Negro province despite local press reports stating that production had begun.
"We are exploring the well and testing it, but it is not yet operational. That is incorrect information that we didn't release," a company spokesperson told BNamericas.
Earlier this week, local press in Argentina reported that the RN-X-1001 well had tested positively for oil and that the firm was set to begin production.
The news followed information released by the government of Rio Negro province stating that production rates of 50m3/d of crude oil had been produced by the firm.
"We still do not have any information about the potential of the well. The information we have so far is not accurate," the spokesperson said."The province is making a lot of fuss out of this."
Capex reported natural gas discoveries on the Loma de Kauffman block in June 2008. However, RN-X-1001, which is the seventh well drilled on the block, would be the first oil discovery.
Meanwhile, the government of Rio Negro province announced that over US$20mn has been invested in hydrocarbons E&P work in 2010.
The government expects a further 14 wells to be drilled across six licenses in the province over the rest of the year. The wells will be drilled by firms including Capex, CGC, Petrolera Entre Lomas and Petrolifera, the provincial government said in a statement.
By James Fowler
Brazilian state-run energy major Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) is working to launch pilot production at the pre-salt Tupi oil field three months ahead of schedule in order to book revenues earlier, a spokesperson for the company told BNamericas.
Tupi field production will start at 100,000b/d, the spokesperson added.
An extended well test is currently being carried out on the well. Pilot production had been originally expected to begin in December.
Commerciality for the Tupi field is also expected to be declared by the end of 2010.
Petrobras has a 65% stake in the BM-S-11 block where Tupi is located. British major BG Group holds 25% and Portugal's Galp 10%.
According to Petrobras, Tupi reserves could reach 5B-8Bboe. The field is located in Brazil's Santos basin.
By João Carvalho
Vancouver-based Magellan Minerals (TSX-V: MNM) has signed a binding LOI to form a 50:50 JV with private company ECI Exploration and Mining for mineral properties located in Brazil's Mato Grosso state, the former said in a statement.
Magellan and ECI have agreed to contribute their respective mineral claims located in Mato Grosso for exploration by the JV and to each fund a minimum of Cdn$250,000 (US$241,477) in exploration expenditures on the properties that are subject to the JV during the initial 12 months from the signing of the LOI.
Magellan also has the Cuiu Cuiu and Coringa gold projects in Brazil, where drilling is currently in progress with three rigs.
ECI is a gold, silver and associated base metal exploration company with properties in Brazil, Mexico and Chile.
***
Toronto-based Rio Novo Gold (TSX: RN) reported additional results from its ongoing drilling program at the Almas gold project in Brazil's Tocantins state.
To date, 112 diamond drill holes have been completed totaling 14,876m out of the approximately 29,000m planned for completion by November.
Infill drilling at the Paiol target returned 24m at 0.8g/t, including 16m of 1.09g/t; and 45m grading 1.71g/t, including 23.1m at 2.67g/t.
Results from the Arroz target infill drilling program included 11.8m of 2.54g/t, including 5m at 4.00g/t; and 19.2m grading 1.45g/t.
Rio Novo also has the Guaranta gold project in Mato Grosso state.
***
Vancouver-based AQM Copper (TSX-V, Lima: AQM) announced the discovery of a new mineralized zone at the Sicera Sur satellite target, roughly 6.5km west of the Main zone at the Zafranal project in Peru.
Drilling returned 36m of 0.29% copper and 48m of 0.64% copper.
Sicera Sur remains open in all directions, including depth, and the company expects to carry out an exploration and drilling program to determine the extent of copper mineralization there in the near future, AQM said in a statement.
Zafranal is held by AQM and compatriot Teck (TSX, NYSE: TCK) under a 50:50 JV agreement with AQM as the operator.
***
UK-based Patagonia Gold plc (LSE: PGD), via local subsidiary Patagonia Gold SA, has purchased the Estancia El Rincon property in Argentina's Santa Cruz province, which holds the Lomada de Leiva heap leach gold project and other gold prospects, the company said in a statement.
The purchase price was US$804,000, of which half was paid at completion with two further installments of US$201,000 due in October 2010 and April 2011, the statement said, adding the agreement includes a sale back to the sellers after mining and/or exploration have ceased for a period of two years (except in cases of force majeure).
The Lomada project contains an NI 43-101 compliant resource of 237,000oz gold based on a positive scoping study.
Highlights of the study include pre-production capital of US$8.5mn and output of 21,000oz/y over a seven-year minelife.
In April, the provincial mining department approved the EIS and issued the necessary permit for a 50,000t trial heap leach operation at Lomada, the statement said. Construction of the trial heap leach is scheduled to start in September with first gold production 1Q11.
***
Toronto-based US Gold (Amex, TSX: UXG) announced assay results for 15 new drill holes at the El Gallo project in Mexico that were designed to increase the total number of ounces beyond the initial NI 43-101 resource estimate released on July 6.
The best drill hole returned 577g/t of silver over 24.0m and 142g/t silver over 12.8m, US Gold said in a statement.
To date, the majority of the silver mineralization at El Gallo is in the Main zone, which is the primary target for discovering additional ounces, the statement said.
***
Panama-based Bellhaven Copper & Gold (TSX-V: BHV) announced that the company's first drilling program in Colombia is now underway at its La Mina porphyry gold-copper project.
The 2,000m program is focused on the La Cantera target, the company said in a statement.
Bellhaven has entered into an option agreement to acquire 100% of two contiguous properties providing the surface rights to a 672,500m2 area over the La Mina concession. The total price is US$500,000 and is due within 12 months.
By Mark Helmantoler
Colombia's geology and mining bureau Ingeominas is preparing to concession areas containing coal, iron and gold deposits in different parts of the country, Ingeominas director Mario Ballesteros told BNamericas.
"The new mining law permits the creation of special state reserve areas for concessions and I believe this will be better for national and foreign investors," Ballesteros said.
The coal concessions will be awarded out during H2 and the final studies are currently being carried out.
For iron and gold, Ballesteros said that the studies are also being carried out to define the state reserve areas, after which the concession process will be launched.
The new mining law allows Ingeominas to define state reserve areas and concession them to the highest bidder. Under the old system, free areas were handed over on a first-come, first-served basis.
"A number of companies have expressed interest in participating in these concession processes," Ballesteros said.
Ingeominas is part of the mines and energy ministry (Minminas).
The new mining law was approved by the government in February.
By Harvey Beltrán
Operational costs at Chile's 11 largest copper producers during Q1 saw an average increase of 20% year-on-year, the country's copper mining research institute Cesco said in a report.
The largest increase was registered by Anglo American Chile, the local subsidiary of the London-based diversified resources group Anglo American (LSE: AAL), which posted a 78% rise compared to the first quarter of 2009 to US$561mn.
The increase was mainly explained by a substantial change in the comparison parameters in the year-over-year period as the company started sales and distribution of its attributable copper output from the Collahuasi copper mine - in which it holds a 44% stake - in April last year, according to the report.
Canadian miner Barrick Gold's (NYSE: ABX) Zaldivar copper operation saw the largest decrease in operational costs, down 15% to US$86mn.
Revenues and Ebitda registered by copper producers all over the world grew by 56% and 103%, respectively, in the first quarter year-on-year, in line with the 111% increase registered by the red metal's average price in the period.
The revenues of copper producers in Chile were higher than those registered by international companies, mainly because of the latter's more diversified portfolio, according to the report.
Meanwhile, global copper production decreased 4.8% in Q1, while Chile saw 3.1% growth in output mainly driven by Collahuasi, which increased production by 18.5% in the period.
By Victor Henriquez
The Peruvian unit of Mexican microlender Banco Azteca reported a loss of 1.8mn soles (US$638,000) for the second quarter as it continues to find its way in the market since opening its doors at the beginning of 2008, according to filings with local securities regulator Conasev.
The loss was an improvement over the 4.7mn-sol loss in the year-ago quarter, and together with the good results from the first quarter, the bank was able to report a 5.6mn-sol profit during H1.
That profit compares favorably to the loss of 6mn soles reported in 1H09.
However, despite its youth, the quality of the bank's credit portfolio is worsening. It reported an non-performing loan ratio of 9.78% through the end of June compared to 6.16% in June 2009.
***
Small Peruvian bank Banco de Comercio reported earnings of 1.8mn soles in the second quarter, up 64% from the year-ago quarter.
The bank saw its financial income rise only slightly to 38.7mn soles, though its financing costs dropped 17% from 1Q09 to 13.4mn soles.
The drop in financing costs helped push Banco de Comercio's gross margin up 21% to 25.4mn soles.
The bank's credit portfolio stands at 973mn soles through the end of June, an increase of 7.3% since December.
***
Banco Ripley Peru, the consumer finance arm of the retail giant, reported earnings up 10.5% in Q2 to 11.5mn soles over the year-ago quarter, though income from the half increased 41% to 25.5mn soles.
Gross income for the bank has actually dropped during the year, but as has been the case for many other financial companies, a steep drop in financing costs has led to a fatter bottom line for the bank.
Banco Ripley saw its financing costs drop by 21% in the second quarter compared to 2Q09, with financing costs for the half down by a similar amount.
By Peter Krupa
Peru's Interbank will be able to grow its loan portfolio at the current rate for the next four years before the bank will need to seek new capital, VP for finance Jose Antonio Rosas said during a conference call on the Q2 earnings of parent company Intergroup Financial Services (IFS).
"Given our expectations for growth, considering how much capital we have now, how much we expect to capitalize our earnings and how much available cash we have at our holding company, we expect to grow for at least four years before we need any more new capital at interbank," Rosas said.
Interbank had a loan portfolio worth 10.7bn soles (US$3.78bn) through the end of the second quarter, up 14.8% since end-2Q09. Rosas mentioned further in the conference call that the bank is aiming for 20% portfolio growth this year.
The bank portfolio remains almost evenly split between commercial and retail lending. Rosas added in the conference call that the bank is seeing its net interest margin on commercial lending tighten as economic growth heats up and banks vie to attract corporate clients.
BANK FLAT, IFS EARNINGS DOWN
Interbank saw its earnings nudge upwards by only 0.6% in the second quarter compared to the year-ago quarter to 102mn soles. Group-wide, IFS earnings dropped 3.6% compared to 2Q09 to 123mn soles. In a release on its earnings, IFS said that with one-time financial earnings taken out of the totals, recurring income increased 4.6%Chilean investment bank Celfin Capital noted that the earnings were below its forecast of 134mn soles for the quarter, partly due to an unexpected stability in provisions - the investment bank had expected them to fall by 11% year-on-year, rather than the slight 0.8% decline reported.
Celfin said it maintains its projection that the bank's loan portfolio will grow 19% in 2010.
By Peter Krupa
Argentine bottling company Cabelma will invest US$23.5mn to build a recycling plant in the General Pacheco district of northern Buenos Aires province.
The plant will recycle PET plastic and will be built in two phases, paper La Nacion reported.
In the first phase, the company will install a bottle-washing system using Sorema technology. The second phase will consist of an extrusion process using Swiss technology, the report said.
US chemical company DuPont's (NYSE: DD) second quarter 2010 sales in Latin America increased 20% year-on-year to US$700mn, the company said in a statement.
Latin America accounted for 8% of DuPont's global revenues, while sales in emerging markets together climbed 32% in the period.
Global sales were US$8.62bn in Q2, up 26% compared with US$6.86bn in the prior-year period, attributed to 21% higher volume, 5% higher local selling prices, 1% benefit from currency and 1% reduction from portfolio changes.
All segments had double-digit sales increases, the statement said, with more than 25%volume growth in electronics and communications, performance materials, and safety and protection segments.
Net income attributable to DuPont jumped to US$1.16bn in the period versus US$417mn in 2Q09.
As a result, the firm increased its full-year earnings guidance to US$2.90-US$3.05 per share, excluding significant items, from the previous US$2.50-US$2.70.
After two consecutive monthly declines, Brazilian fertilizer prices remained steady in July compared to June due to stable raw material prices on the international market and seasonally lower demand, according to local consultancy firm Scot.
Urea prices have averaged 895 reais/t (US$506/t) in July compared with 897 reais/t in June.
Potassium chloride is being sold for 1,105 reais/t, down 0.14% month-on-month, while single superphosphate is at 585 reais/t, 0.11% lower than in June.
As demand is expected to improve in the second half, when 65% of annual fertilizer deliveries normally take place, prices are forecast to increase through the end of the year, Scot said.
Brazilian deliveries rose 4.2% to 8.62Mt in January-June from 8.27Mt in the same period of 2009, according national fertilizer distributors association Anda.
US performance materials and specialty chemicals company Solutia (NYSE: SOA) plans to optimize and expand its Saflex polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayer manufacturing capacity in South America, the company said in a statement.
"This region, specifically Brazil and Argentina, is a rapidly expanding market for the key automotive and construction industries," said Timothy J Wessel, president and general manager of Solutia's Advanced Interlayers division.
"We are optimizing our current operations and will be implementing future expansions to better position our customers to seize opportunities in the market."
Solutia currently has six manufacturing sites worldwide that produce Saflex PVB interlayers and encapsulants, including a facility in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil.
Chilean flexible packaging company Edelpa has inaugurated a new solvents recovery plant, according to a report on Chilean association of plastics companies Asipla's website.
The plant uses the latest technology to capture and reuse up to 90% of solvents, which evaporate into the atmosphere as a result of the production process and natural causes.
The US$7mn initiative is part of the company's US$25mn master plan to modernize production processes through the incorporation of new technology.
"We have the technology and now we must foster the cultural changes necessary to become more efficient. Only by doing this will we pass from regional leaders to international leaders in packaging," Edelpa general manager, Oscar Jaime Lopez, was quoted as saying.
Source - Business News Americas
US chemical company DuPont (NYSE: DD) and Brazilian JBS group have partnered to begin producing 30,000t/y of sodium methylate in Pirapozinho, Sao Paulo state, to supply the domestic biodiesel market, DuPont's executive manager of chemical solutions in Latin America, Vinicius Soares, told BNamericas.
The project is the result of the companies' joint investment, in which JBS provides the production facility and DuPont the technology and product commercialization.
The decision to begin producing sodium methylate, used as a catalyzer in the production of biodiesel, was made due to increasing demand in Brazil. "We surveyed several local companies and they were unanimous in naming the difficulties associated with importing the product, citing logistics and freight costs, for example," Soares said.
According to the executive, it was relatively simple to start producing sodium methylate in Brazil, as DuPont already has three facilities in the US. "DuPont has been producing sodium methylate for over 40 years. Turning the plan into reality was an easy and quick process," he added.
In October, DuPont and the Bertin group, which was later incorporated by JBS, partnered to identify and map potential consumption in Brazil. In January of this year, the companies decided to advance with the project and construction was concluded after only six months.
"The module technology used in the project allows for building and increasing capacities very quickly," Soares said. Output at the Sao Paulo facility could easily be doubled to 60,000t/y. "Depending on how demand develops, DuPont will decide whether it will increase capacity in Sao Paulo or start an entirely new project in the northeast, for example," he added.
Soares explained that the development of the product was focused on providing customers with custom-made solutions and logistics efficiency, in addition to offering a sustainable technology approach and quality standards, so the client could purchase the best product at the best price.
BIODIESEL IN BRAZIL
With the biodiesel market skyrocketing in Brazil, according to Soares, the outlook for sodium methylate consumption is very favorable for the coming years. "In 2007, the biodiesel market practically didn't exist. Only after a few years, we saw the biodiesel admixture reach 5% in the country," he said.
According to DuPont's estimates, the sodium methylate market will reach 45,000t in 2010, increasing to 56,800t in 2014, considering the current admixture policy in place.
"Demand for biodiesel and sodium methylate is expected to continue improving. The admixture is currently at 5%, but there have been requests from the entire chain to increase that to 10%," said JBS new businesses executive director Jose Luiz Medeiros.
For DuPont, the construction of the plant in Brazil is in line with the company's strategy for the Latin America region and the new capacity will contribute to regional sales. The firm is also evaluating expanding the sodium methylate business to Argentina and Colombia, Soares concluded.
By Fernanda De Biagio
Colombia's ICT ministry is earmarking 4bn pesos (US$2.1mn) to provide technology training, the ministry said in a statement.
