Grupo Brasil BioFuels (BBF), which operates in sustainable agribusiness from oil palm cultivation to biotechnology, biofuel production and renewable energy generation, expects to grow by 36% this year, when it celebrates its 15th anniversary. The company, which has assets in Acre, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia and Roraima, is expected to earn R$1.5 billion by December, the company said in a statement.
The company experienced a leap in growth in 2020 with the acquisition of Biopalma, a subsidiary of Vale, in Pará, expanding its oil palm cultivation area by 60,000 hectares and operating two more palm oil production plants. "Our businesses are long-term assets and reinforce our commitment to the best environmental, social and governance practices. In 2022 our turnover was R$1.1 billion. Now, we project growth of at least 36% more for 2023, reaching R$1.5 billion by the end of the year," said Grupo BBF CEO Milton Steagall in the note.
Currently, Grupo BBF has around 75,000 hectares under oil palm cultivation in the states of Pará and Roraima. Every year, the company produces more than 200,000 tons of palm oil. It has a vertical business model, in which it is possible to operate from the planting of oil palm to the production of biofuels, biotechnology and renewable electricity. The company provides around 6,000 direct jobs and 18,000 indirect jobs, as well as encouraging more than 400 family farmers in the state of Pará.
In the energy sector, Grupo BBF has 38 thermoelectric plants in its portfolio with a total generating capacity of 238 MW, serving isolated locations in the North. There are 25 plants in operation with 86.8 MW of power generation capacity and another 13 under implementation. All of them operate with renewable fuels: biofuels (biodiesel and vegetable oil) and biomass from oil palm. The company generates renewable energy for local distributors, serving more than 140,000 customers, removing around 106 million liters of fossil diesel from the Amazon, as well as reducing emissions by around 250,000 tons of carbon equivalent in the Amazonian atmosphere.
Last year, the company was rated investment grade by Fitch Ratings, with a positive outlook for the long term. In total, Grupo BBF has nearly R$2.1 billion invested in sustainable assets.
The company announced this year the expansion of its product portfolio. With investments of R$ 33 million, BBF BioTech, a business unit focused on biotechnology, started operations in Rondônia to produce renewable inputs from palm oil and palm kernel oil, to supply several industries in the agricultural, cosmetics, food, cleaning and pharmaceutical segments. Altogether, the plant has the capacity to produce more than 3 thousand tons per month of renewable inputs that aim to substitute petrochemical products.
The expectation is that still this year, a new BBF BioTech unit will start operating, this time in Manaus. Investments in the second plant, which will double production capacity, should reach R$ 90 million.
Scheduled for the end of 2025, Grupo BBF will begin production of the unprecedented Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Green Diesel, also known as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO). The raw material for the biofuels will be palm oil produced by BBF in the interior of Roraima. Refining will take place at a plant under construction in the Manaus Free Trade Zone (AM). The new plant will be the first biorefinery in the country to produce the unprecedented biofuels on an industrial scale. More than R$2 billion is expected to be invested in the new plant. Initially, it will be possible to produce 500 million liters per year of the new HVO and SAF biofuels.
