Valtra do Brasil benefits from expanding sugar cane industry

10.07.2006

The consumption of alcohol fuel (ethanol) has boomed in Brazil ever since flex fuel engines (biofuel) were introduced by the automotive industry. The country has also become a major global exporter of alcohol in the last three years, with exports growing six times faster than domestic sales. In 2005 more than 2.5 billion liters of alcohol were exported, creating revenues of USD 742 million, while sugar exports amounted to USD 3.9 billion.

Today Brazil is a major global producer of clean and renewable energy. Annual sugar cane production in Brazil, which currently amounts to 380 million tons, is expected to reach 560 million tons in 2010, generating around 350 thousand direct jobs and more than one million indirect jobs in the next five years. Sugar cane cultivation already covers 5.6 million hectares.

In partnership with producers

Many tractor innovations introduced by Valtra have been the result of the company’s close relationship with the sugar mills, farming work follow-up and demand from the customers.

The sugar cane sector has developed considerably in recent years with the introduction of new agricultural practices and modern processing techniques. This allowed the mills to survive a crisis within the sector and increase their productivity. Each new technique that was applied in the field demanded corresponding innovations from Valtra’s engineering department.

Robust and efficient Valtra tractors have proven to be ideal for the sugar cane industry, one of the most demanding sectors in agriculture. On Brazil’s sugar cane plantations, each tractor works between 2,500 and 3,000 hours a year, day and night.

Big order in São Paolo

Two Valtra dealers, Coopercitrus and Mercadão dos Tratores, recently confirmed one of the biggest agricultural machines sales for the sugar cane sector in the state of São Paulo, the biggest sugar cane producer in Brazil. In April 2006 Valtra delivered 81 machines, including 45 BH 180 tractors, 30 BM 110 and six BM 100 loaders, to the Colombo Sugar Mill in Ariranha.

“We chose Valtra to renew our fleet because we wanted a tractor that is easy to operate and at the same time capable of meeting everyday farming needs,” commented Sidinei Augusto Colombo, General Director of Colombo Sugar Mill.

When choosing Valtra, the sugar mill also considered the low maintenance cost of the tractors and the after sales services offered by the brand through the two dealers. The service was another decisive factor in the negotiations, adds Colombo: “Valtra allowed us to specify a tractor capable of meeting the needs and expectations of the sugar mill.”

Colombo has around five thousand direct employees and another ten thousand other contracted personnel. The flagship of its production is Caravelas sugar, the leading brand in São Paulo’s cities, one of the biggest consumer markets in Brazil. The sugar mill also produces other successful brands, including Colombo sugar and products traded by major supermarket chains.

Valtra has signed also major contracts this year with other sugar cane mills. In April, the João Lyra Group acquired 36 agricultural machines to be used in its units in Alagoas and Minas Gerais, regions where sugar cane production is expanding rapidly. Valtra has also delivered 40 new tractors to the Guaira Sugar Mill, considered to be a model in the sugar and alcohol sector.

Valtra’s market share in Brazil’s sugar cane industry in the first quarter of 2006 was 70 percent.

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