The new reality of Brazilian agribusiness involves discussing how to promote the sector in a sustainable way in the Amazon region, generating jobs and income, recovering areas degraded by deforestation and keeping the forest standing. It is with this perspective that the CEO of Grupo BBF (Brasil BioFuels), Milton Steagall, is taking part in the 22nd LIDE Business Forum, which will be held between June 28 and 30 in Rio de Janeiro (RJ). The event, which will bring together businesspeople and authorities, will have Steagall as a debater on the panel "The new reality of Brazilian agribusiness", on June 29, starting at 2:30 pm, where the executive will highlight the importance of sustainable oil palm cultivation, also known as palm oil, for the development of the Amazon region.
According to Steagall, the Amazon region has a population of over 29 million people and needs to be included in the discussions about sustainable agribusiness, which is among the main assets of the Brazilian economy. "The new reality of Brazilian agribusiness needs to include sustainable agribusiness in the Amazon region as a central development axis for the region, with the premise of recovering degraded areas of the forest, generating jobs, and the main thing: keeping the forest standing," he says.
The oil palm is an exceptional crop for agribusiness in the Amazon region. Its cultivation can only be done in forest areas that were degraded until 2007, with about 31 million hectares suitable for planting according to the Palm Agroecological Zoning defined in the decree 7172 of the Federal Government in 2010, which counted on a robust work conducted by EMBRAPA. A true "green pre-salt", since palm oil is an important raw material for the production of second generation biofuels and palm has 10x higher productivity of ton of oil per hectare when compared to soy, which is widely used in the production of biofuels.
Grupo BBF is the largest palm oil producer in Latin America and since 2009 has been producing biodiesel from palm oil to generate renewable energy in the Amazon, serving more than 140,000 residents in isolated locations. In a pioneering way, the company is developing the unprecedented Green Diesel (HVO) and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) biofuels, both produced from palm oil, which will be marketed from 2026 in partnership with Vibra Energia.
Currently, the company has more than 75,000 hectares under oil palm cultivation and by 2026 it will add an additional 100,000 hectares, exclusively to supply the production of HVO and SAF. The CEO also highlights the "size of the opportunity that Brazil has and the importance of attracting new investments to this rich 'green pre-salt' that the country has".
Steagall concludes that oil palm offers countless benefits for environmental preservation, job creation and income: "It's such a rich plant that it could help lift thousands of Amazonians out of poverty, since it can't be mechanized, it's grown perennially and it generates thousands of jobs in the countryside in places that are very short of opportunities and income." At Grupo BBF there are already more than 6,000 direct employees and 18,000 indirect jobs generated, thousands of families positively impacted by palm cultivation.
In addition to recovering degraded areas of the forest, palm cultivation aims to keep the forest standing, in a virtuous cycle of environmental preservation, job creation and income. Grupo BBF 's plantation areas store more than 25 million tons of forest carbon and the company has more than 60,000 hectares of Permanent Preservation Areas (APP) and Legal Reserves (RL).
Recently, Grupo BBF announced an investment to plant cocoa in consortium with palm and açaí in an agroforestry system, with the aim of generating thousands of new jobs and further accelerating its efforts to restore the Amazon rainforest. With COP 30 imminent in Belém and the impacts of the new bioeconomy, Grupo BBF demonstrates in practice that it is possible to develop agribusiness in the Amazon region in a sustainable way and shows that the new reality of Brazilian agribusiness needs and must include the Amazon as a priority agenda in the public and private spheres.
The LIDE Business Forum is recognized as one of the most important business meetings in Brazil, with a legacy of fostering the country's economy based on the strategic union between the participating leaders.
The 22nd edition of the event will have the theme "Brazil's Economic Future" and will be attended by authorities such as governors, ministers and businesspeople. The panel "The new reality of Brazilian agribusiness", which will have Steagall as a debater, will feature presentations by Ronaldo Caiado, governor of Mato Grosso; Eduardo Riedel, governor of Mato Grosso do Sul; Ingo Ploger, vice-president of the Brazilian Agribusiness Association (Abag); Antonio Carrere, president of John Deere Latin America; Mario Mantovani, director of the National Association of Municipalities and the Environment (ANAMMA); and Luiz Lourenço, chairman of the board of COCAMAR.
The panel will also count with the moderation of the journalist and president of LIDE Conteúdo, Carlos José Marques; and the president of LIDE Agronegócios, Francisco Matturro.
Grupo BBF (Brasil BioFuels), a Brazilian company founded in 2008, is the largest palm oil producer in Latin America, with a cultivated area of over 75,000 hectares and a production capacity of around 200,000 tons of oil per year. The company is a pioneer in creating sustainable solutions for generating renewable energy in isolated systems, with thermoelectric plants powered by biofuels produced in the region. Its agricultural activity recovers areas that were degraded until 2007 in the Amazon, following the Agroecological Zoning of Oil Palm (ZAE), approved by Decree 7.172 of the Federal Government, of May 7, 2010.
Grupo BBF has created an integrated business model in which it operates from the beginning to the end of the value chain - from sustainable oil palm cultivation, crude oil extraction, biofuel production, biotechnology and renewable energy generation - with assets totaling around R$2.2 billion and activities generating more than 6,000 direct jobs in the northern region of Brazil. Grupo BBF 's operations are located in the states of Acre, Amazonas, Rondônia, Roraima and Pará, comprising 38 thermoelectric plants (25 in operation and 13 under implementation), 3 palm oil crushing units, a soybean extruder and a biodiesel industry.
The company is expanding its supply of biofuels and has signed partnerships for the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), also called green diesel. The new sustainable fuels will be produced as of 2026 in the country's first Biorefinery, currently under construction in the Manaus Free Trade Zone.
