Codexis, Inc. and Raizen Energia S.A. Tuesday announced the signing of a joint development agreement to develop an improved first generation ethanol process with enhanced performance economics. Raizen is Brazil’s largest sugar and ethanol producer.
Under the terms of the agreement, Raizen and Codexis will deploy the Codexis CodeEvolver™ directed evolution technology platform to improve Raizen’s [...]

BP Plc Thursday announced that it has agreed to acquire an additional 3 per cent share of Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Companhia Nacional de Açúcar e Álcool (CNAA) from LDC Bioenergia S.A. for a price of approximately US$25 million.
Following the acquisition in April 2011 of 83 per cent of the shares of CNAA and [...]

United Phosphorus Limited (UPL) Tuesday announced that it has acquired a 51% stake in DVA Agro Do Brasil (DVA Agro Brazil), a Brazilian company, from DVA Group, Germany and other shareholders. The balance 49% will continue to be held by the existing shareholders.
DVA Agro Brazil based out of Campinas, São Paulo state in Brazil is [...]

Vale S.A. (Vale) announced that its Board of Directors has approved the proposal for a public offer to acquire, through its subsidiary Mineração Naque S.A., up to 100% of the free float (OPA) of Vale Fertilizantes S.A. (Vale Fertilizantes), in order to delist.
The public offer to acquire shares involves a cash price of R$ 25.00 [...]

MBAC Fertilizer Corp. announced it has exercised an option to purchase 100% of a phosphate project located in the Municipality of Araxa in the southern part of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The option has been acquired from a private vendor and the exercise of the option to acquire the project is subject to certain conditions, [...]

French commodities trader Louis Dreyfus said on Tuesday it bought Brazilian fertilizer maker Macrofertil, highlighting its push into the agriculture-inputs sector in the South American farming powerhouse.
Dreyfus’s local subsidiary, Louis Dreyfus Commodities (LDC), has been operating in Brazil’s growing fertilizer market since 2008 but as a distributor only.
LD Commodities is a world leader in the [...]

Unilever Sunday announced a small but important step towards 100% sustainable sourcing of its agricultural raw materials by 2020. Unilever, a founding member of the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS), bought some of the first available certificates for sustainable soy. This follows the recent introduction of the RTRS certification scheme.
Unilever Brazil bought certificates that [...]

Tereos International is to expand the operations of its sugar and ethanol subsidiary in Brazil, Guarani. Tereos announced plans to invest 767 million reais ($476 million) to expand sugarcane crushing capacity and energy cogeneration of the subsidiary over the next 4 years.
This investment plan will benefit from a long-term 764 million reais financing agreement secured [...]

Archer Daniels Midland Company Thursday announced plans to invest in sustainable palm production in Brazil. Spread over five years, the ADM investment will encompass approximately 12,000 hectares of palm production in the state of Para and include the construction of a palm processing plant.
Construction of the processing plant is expected to begin in 2013, with [...]

According to a report carried by Bloomberg, Brazil’s and the world’s biggest iron ore exporter, Vale SA, has focused a significant amount of its investments in fertilizers to meet rising Brazilian demand. Bloomberg cited a company official, reporting that Vale’s move aims at increased fertilizer production, to meet the rising demand for the product in [...]