The sweet hereafter

Biofuels are now seen as polluting and as a threat to forests and food production. But Brazil is still pinning its hopes on becoming a big player in sustainable sugarcane ethanol and related technology. Jan Rocha reports
Jan Rocha
The Guardian,
Wednesday May 28 2008
Article history
Brazil's ambitious plans for supplying the world with renewable sugarcane ethanol have been put on hold as criticism of biofuels escalates. Instead of being seen as a solution, biofuels have become the new villains of the energy scene and are now blamed for everything from hunger to climate change itself.
"A few years ago, we thought biofuels were heaven, but now we think they are hell," says Anders Wijkman, an MEP from Sweden, which is the only European country that already imports Brazilian ethanol for its public transport system. "I think the truth is somewhere in between."
Last year, Brazilian exports of ethanol fell by 14%. Work on two giant pipelines planned to carry ethanol from the canefields of Goias to the ports of Paranagua and São Sebastião has been suspended, and the question being raised is whether the bio-boom is over before it has begun. Are the big-name foreign investors such as George Soros and the pension funds, who were falling over themselves to buy up land in central Brazil to plant sugar cane, backing the wrong horse? Are biofuels really less sustainable and more polluting than fossil fuels?
The view from Brazil, which has vast space, a burgeoning economy and a growing population hungry for development, is very different from that in Europe. With oil at over $120 (£61) a barrel, they say the answer can only be "no". Ethanol is just $35 a barrel, and for most countries - especially poor oil-importing countries in Africa, where high fuel prices have already led to a drop in real income - the economic argument is all important. As the number of vehicles in the world tops a billion, the oil companies themselves admit that biofuels will be essential for meeting the growing demand for fuel, probably providing 10% of transport needs by 2030. Today, they account for only 1%.
Moreover, the demand for fuel is expected to double by mid-century, thanks not only to the gas-guzzling rich countries' inability to reduce their already high consumption, but to population growth and higher incomes in the large emerging economies.
There is conflicting research on sugar cane's contribution to greenhouse gases (GHGs). According to Friends of the Earth's biofuels campaigner, Kenneth Richter, research shows that growing and processing some crops in certain countries can release more GHGs than they save. Meanwhile, the Smithsonian Institute - reviewing recent research into 26 biofuel products - gave sugar cane black marks for polluting rivers and producing GHG from nitrogenous fertilisers and annual burning.
However, Brazil's government research company, Embrapa, has found that where sugar cane replaces soy or cattle pasture, it absorbs much more CO2 because it has a greater capacity than other crops to convert the gas into biomass. For Mark Lundell, a World Bank expert on biofuels, other factors such as the type of crop, production technology, energy inputs into processing, transportation to refineries and product markets, and alternative land uses also affect the environmental impact - and Brazilian sugar cane comes out well when compared with US maize or Malaysian palm oil.
Import tariff
The American ethanol made from maize is not only heavily subsidised but is also protected from its much cheaper sugar cane competitor by a steep import tariff - so much so that Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, has called for the tariff's reduction to allow cheaper fuel to help in his battle with inflation.
But above all, biofuels are seen as a threat to tropical forests and food production. In Indonesia, palm oil plantations have replaced rainforest, and there are fears that sugar cane will invade the Amazon region, or have a domino effect, pushing soy and cattle into virgin forest, causing more deforestation.
Marcos Jank, president of Unica, the sugar cane industry association, points out that the humid climate of the tropical forest does not suit sugar cane, and that it grows best in the temperate south-eastern state of São Paulo, where productivity is higher and technology is most up to date. Mechanisation will soon eliminate the practice of burning the cane, cutting emissions - and thousands of jobs.
Brazilian officials laugh at the idea that sugar cane will push out food production in a land where at least 90m hectares of arable land is said to be still available for farming outside the rainforest, and where sugar cane covers only 5% of Brazilian farmland. Jank claims that increased productivity will soon double the current yield of 7,000 litres per hectare and that production could be raised by 50%, with an additional 10m-15m hectares of land.
The problem is that while the Amazon rainforest might be safe, another invaluable ecosystem, the cerrado of central Brazil, could be at risk. And Lundell believes that rainforest deforestation will be difficult to avoid if sugar cane production demands more than 20m hectares.
But social sustainability is much harder to defend. In 2007, over half of nearly 6,000 workers found by government inspectors in slave-like conditions were sugar cane cutters, most of them in the traditional plantations of the north-east. In another big cane-growing area, Mato Grosso do Sul, Guarani Indians, who have lost most of their land to cattle ranchers, provide cheap, exploited labour.
Harvested by women
The babassu palm, whose oil was used to part-fuel Richard Branson's Boeing 747, grows mostly in the poor and backward states of Maranhño and Piaui, and is harvested exclusively by women. If it joins the list of desirable renewables, will these 300,000 women, who often support large families with their hard-earned income, reap some of the reward or will they lose their livelihood to multinational companies with machines?
These indirect impacts, the so-called full life cycle effects - change of land use, ecosystem degradation, poverty impact, the fate of small producers - have to be factored in to the biofuel equation. Some form of certification of environmental and social sustainability is seen as the answer, and will be on the agenda at the next G8 meeting in Tokyo, in July.
If it can meet the demand for sustainability, Brazil, which already enjoys a huge competitive advantage because of its abundant land, good climate and advanced technology, stands to become a major player in the new world of renewable energy.
The country's experience with ethanol goes back to the 1970s, when Brazil - a big oil importer - was hit hard by the oil shock. The military government launched a huge, subsidised state programme to produce fuel from sugar cane. An unexpected side benefit was the avoidance of 600m tonnes of carbon emissions between 1974 and 2004, and a measurable improvement in the air quality of the big cities such as São Paulo, with a fall in respiratory diseases.
As the price of oil collapsed, ethanol fell out of favour. But now it is back. Nearly all new cars leaving the factories are "flex" or dual-fuel models, able to detect and run on any mixture of petrol and ethanol, whatever the percentage of each; 80% of Brazil's ethanol goes to its own market.
While the Americans tax it and the Europeans condemn it, Brazil is looking at other export markets, not only for its ethanol but for its highly advanced ethanol technology. Cuba is already a customer and now the state development bank, BNDES, plans to finance the export of ethanol knowhow to Africa, where the hopes of countries such as Ghana are pinned on the jatropha plant.
'People still bash us'
There is a misunderstanding that Brazil is obsessed with exporting biofuels. In fact, we export only 10% of our production, and that is only to Sweden. The reason we do not export more is because demand is growing so fast in Brazil. More than 50% of all the vehicle fuel used in Brazil is now ethanol. Biofuels are worth tens of billions of dollars a year to us. They provide 18% of all our energy and employ 50 times more people than the oil industry.
The debate about biofuels is out of control. We have so much land that is badly used. People still bash us, but there is really no link between ethanol [from sugar cane] and food displacement. Nor are biofuels being grown in the Amazon. Soya can be planted there, and that is a worry.
The UN is worried about biofuels and food shortages because food aid is now much more expensive. They are used to low-cost food and need money. The countries that need food aid have a major problem, but it is the food subsidies in Europe and the US that are distorting the markets. Biofuel prices are not affecting commodities, but support for them is.
· Andre Aranha Correa do Lago, head of the energy department in Brazil's foreign ministry, was talking to John Vidal.

Apesar das críticas, Brasil ainda aposta no etanol, diz 'Guardian'

BBC Brasil
28/05/2008

Apesar das crescentes críticas internacionais à produção e uso de biocombustíveis por conta do impacto ambiental e social, o Brasil ainda espera se tornar um grande jogador mundial no setor, segundo reportagem publicada nesta quarta-feira pelo jornal britânico The Guardian.
Em artigo de página inteira, o diário afirma que "os ambiciosos planos do Brasil de suprir o mundo com etanol de cana-de-açúcar - fonte de energia renovável - foram suspensos temporariamente com as crescentes críticas ao biocombustível".
O jornal comenta que as exportações brasileiras caíram no ano passado e o trabalho em dois oleodutos para transportar etanol de Goiás para os portos de Paranaguá e São Sebastião foram suspensos "e a grande pergunta levantada é se os biocombustíveis já acabaram antes de começar".
"A visão do Brasil, que tem vasto espaço, uma economia em rápido crescimento e uma crescente população com fome de desenvolvimento, é bem diferente da européia. Com o preço do barril de petróleo a mais de US$ 120, eles afirmam que a resposta só pode ser ''não''."
O etanol custa apenas US$ 35 por barril e o argumento econômico é importante, diz o Guardian, principalmente em países da África, onde a alta do petróleo já teve impacto sobre a renda dos moradores.
Segundo o jornal, mesmo a indústria automobilística já admite a necessidade dos biocombustíveis para suprir a crescente demanda por combustível, mas ainda assim, o etanol é responsabilizado por tudo, desde a fome até as mudanças climáticas.
O Guardian afirma que as pesquisas sobre o impacto do etanol de cana-de-açúcar na emissão de gases causadores do efeito estufa são conflitantes, com algumas afirmando que o processo em alguns países emite mais gases do que o economizado com o uso do combustível "limpo".
"Em compensação, a empresa de pesquisas brasileira Embrapa concluiu que quando a plantação de cana-de-açúcar substitui a de soja ou pasto para gado, ela absorve muito mais gás carbônico porque tem maior capacidade que outras culturas de converter o gás em biomassa."
O jornal ainda cita um especialista do Banco Mundial, que afirma que o etanol de cana-de-açúcar do Brasil se sai bem em termos de impacto ambiental em comparação com o etanol de milho, dos Estados Unidos, ou com o óleo de dendê, da Malásia, quando levados em conta outros fatores da produção.
"Mas, acima de tudo, o etanol é visto como uma ameaça às florestas tropicais e à produção de alimentos. Na Indonésia, as plantações de dendê substituíram a floresta tropical e teme-se que a cana de açúcar invada a região da Amazônia, ou provoque um efeito dominó, empurrando a soja e o gado para a floresta virgem, causando mais desmatamento."
Segundo o jornal, o governo brasileiro nega o risco de desmatamento pela cana-de-açúcar, argumentando que ainda há 90 milhões de hectares de terras aráveis no País, sem que seja necessário o desmatamento, e que a produção de cana ocupa apenas 5% das terras do País.
"Mas a sustentabilidade social é muito mais difícil de defender. Em 2007, mais da metade dos quase 6 mil trabalhadores encontrados por inspetores do governo em condições escravas eram cortadores de cana, a maior parte nas tradicionais plantações do nordeste. Em outra grande área de produção de cana, Mato Grosso do Sul, índios guaranis, que perderam a maioria de suas terras para criadores de gado, garantem mão-de-obra barata e explorada."
Segundo o Guardian, os impactos indiretos dos biocombustíveis - como mudanças no uso da terra, degradação do ecossistema, impacto sobre a pobreza e futuro dos pequenos produtores - têm que ser levados em conta na equação.
"Se conseguir suprir a demanda por sustentabilidade, o Brasil, que já tem grande vantagem competitiva por causa de sua terra abundante, bom clima e tecnologia avançada, pode se tornar um dos grandes jogadores no novo mundo da energia renovável", afirma a reportagem.

Brasileiro trabalhará 148 dias só para pagar impostos, informa IBPT

Rodrigo Postigo
28/05/2008

O contribuinte brasileiro trabalhou até esta terça-feira, em 2008, somente para pagar os impostos, taxas e contribuições exigidos pelos governos municipais, estaduais e federal. Os dados, divulgados pelo Instituto Brasileiro de Planejamento Tributário (IBPT), indicam que, dos 148 dias trabalhados neste ano, só para pagar os tributos, 84 são provenientes de impostos sobre o consumo; 54, sobre a renda; e 11, sobre o patrimônio.

O estudo mostra que, na década de 70, o contribuinte tinha de trabalhar, em média, 76 dias para pagar os tributos. Depois, na década de 80, foram necessários 77 dias e na década de 90, 102 dias. Em 2007, o contribuinte trabalhou 146 dias para pagar todos os tributos e em 2006, 145.
De acordo com o IBPT, os cidadãos da Suécia têm de trabalhar 185 dias por ano para pagar seus tributos; os da França, 149; os da Argentina, 97; e os do México, 91.

A Associação Comercial de São Paulo (ACSP) inaugurou o novo "impostômetro", localizado na fachada de sua sede, na região central da cidade. No painel eletrônico, foram incluídas casas decimais dos trilhões de reais. De acordo com a associação, o dispositivo mostra em tempo real a valor dos tributos pagos no País desde o início do ano. A estimativa da entidade é de que, no dia 22 de dezembro, o "impostômetro" atinja a marca de R$ 1 trilhão.

Brazil: giant of a new economic world order

The 'Bric' economies have captured the headlines, but India and China have so far won the lion's share. What about the other half of the acronym? Brazil used to get through finance ministers like Italy got through presidents. Now, buoyed by its wealth of raw materials and the world's best-performing stock exchange, it seems to have found stability
Zoe Wood in São Paula
The Observer,
Sunday May 25 2008
Article history
The sun is coming up over São Paulo and testosterone levels are running as high as they do on the terraces of the famous Morumbi stadium. As the minute hand ticks closer to 8am, the drumming begins, the players pounding on huge samba drums as local sales manager Fernando Correa takes to the floor.
Correa's rallying cry is part Haka, part Wal-Mart chant as he revs up his team of 30 salesmen, who work for Latin America's biggest brewer, AmBev, setting targets for the number of bottles of beer and soft drinks they must hit that day. They sing back, banging the tables and whooping with such intimidating force you don't know whether to join in or hide. Drumbeats echo in the corridor as other teams chime in, a daily chorus repeated in every state as the company's 30,000-strong sales force limbers up for the day.
This is motivation Brazilian-style and the B of the Bric countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) has a lot to sing about. The Bovespa is the world's best-performing stock exchange, surging more than sixfold since 2003. The index has outperformed the 20 biggest equity markets this year, achieving a record close of 73,526 points last Tuesday.
A sign of investors' enthusiastic view of the country's prospects is that the Brazilian companies that floated last year sold shares at a racy average of 40 times earnings, compared with 22 in China and 17 in India, where the economies are growing twice as fast. Its financial credibility was also given a boost by ratings agency S&P, which last month gave it an investment-grade credit rating for the first time.
By 8am, AmBev's army of vendedores are weaving through the gridlock of São Paulo's motorways on company-issue Honda motorcycles, distinctive in their blue fleeces and helmets. They spread across the city, making sales calls to shops and family-run businesses in affluent parts of the city such as Vila Madalena, where Abercrombie & Fitch-wearing twentysomethings sip designer beers, but also venturing into the favelas, which are answering the strong call to consume as incomes rise in a sprawling city of 10 million people.
The AmBev distribution centre is in Diadema, São Paulo's bustling industrial quarter, home to car manufacturers such as Fiat and Mercedes-Benz, which are enjoying brisk trade as an emergent middle class takes to the already clogged roads. Diadema is where the country's popular President, Luiz Inácio 'Lula' da Silva, began building his union power base. Lula has surprised everyone by placing a steadying hand on a country that had previously been accused of serial failure to deliver. But analysts question whether the country has really put its economic ills behind it or is simply enjoying a bom momento the likes of which have previously been spoilt by debt and crippling inflation.
Much of Brazil's industry is linked to agri-business and other primary ingredients, with rising demand for sugar, steel and oil boosting profits for commodities producers. Foreign investment reached a record $34.6bn last year, with the recent mega-oil find by state-run exploration firm Petrobras bringing further grounds for optimism.
The boom has propelled domestic companies such as Vale, flush with cash from surging iron ore prices, and AmBev, which merged with Belgian group Interbrew in 2004 to form InBev, onto the global mergers and acquisitions stage. This year Vale tried unsuccessfully to buy Swiss rival Xstrata to create the world's biggest mining company, and InBev is now at the centre of fresh deal speculation. Its bankers are said to be working on a $46bn takeover of American brewer Anheuser-Busch. The companies already work together in the the US, where Anheuser sells European InBev brands such as Beck's, Bass and Stella Artois.
AmBev chief executive Luiz Fernando Edmond declined to comment on the prospects of a deal, stating only the current agreement was a 'huge opportunity for both companies.' Edmond admits to personal reservations about the resilience of the Brazilian economy, particularly over inflation, but is confident some things have changed for good. He recounts an anecdote of the old Brazil: a new finance minister got into a lift, only to be told by the operator that he was the country's 78th finance minister. 'What has really changed over the last 12 years is that the economic policy-makers have become more responsible,' says Edmond. 'The last three ministers have stayed for four years each and that has introduced a lot of discipline into the economy.'
AmBev has been lobbying the government to collect taxes more rigorously, as it claims its prices are higher than rivals' because it pays more tax. 'If you don't pay taxes you have a benefit, but welcome to Brazil,' says Edmond. 'The first wave of IPOs forced companies to become formal; some are paying 300 per cent more tax than three years ago.'
Ambev's sales in Brazil, which climbed nearly 6 per cent in 2007, dropped back in the first three months of this year. The company blamed the decline on the early date of the carnival and a 'softness' in the consumer economy. This week the FIPE index, which tracks consumer prices in São Paulo, rose 0.89 per cent in the four weeks to 15 May, while Brazil's general price index, known as IGP-M, jumped 1.54 per cent in the four weeks to 10 May. Food inflation is running at more than 11 per cent, well ahead of the national rate of 4.7 per cent. Observers suggest the desire to drive global cost synergies out of a slowing business could be the rationale behind a potential move on Anheuser.
There are other discouraging signs, more company flotations have been pulled in Brazil this year than in any other country barring the US, after shares in two-thirds of last year's debutants sank below their offer price. The sharp decline in initial public offerings is a global phenomenon but so far this year only three Brazilian companies have floated, raising 780m reais (£241m), compared with 59 issuing 53.2bn reais of new equity in 2007. Interest rates are expected to reach 14 per cent by the end of this year but Erica Fraga, Latin America analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, remains positive about the outlook. The unit predicts growth of 4.6 per cent in 2008, more than double the 2 per cent managed in the 1980s. 'Things have changed; we have had 10 years of economic stability,' says Fraga. 'Brazil is enjoying its best moment in a decade.'
Brazil in numbers
Population: 190 million
GDP: $1.3 trillion
Income per capita: $9,695
Consumer price inflation: 4.5pc
Growth rate: 5.4pc

Crédito atinge R$ 1,01 trilhão em abril, informa BC

Rodrigo Postigo
28/05/2008

O estoque total de operações de crédito no sistema financeiro atingiu o valor recorde de R$ 1,018 trilhão em abril, contra R$ 993 bilhões no mês anterior, informou nesta terça-feira o Banco Central. O montante representa alta de 2,5% em relação a março e elevação de 30,9% nos últimos doze meses.
De acordo com o chefe do departamento econômico do Banco Central, Altamir Lopes, a evolução das operações de crédito teve saldo total de 36,1% do Produto Interno Bruto (PIB) diante de 35,8% em março e 31,6% em abril de 2007. O dado mais expressivo foi verificado em janeiro de 1995, com saldo de 36,8% do PIB.
"A taxa já era esperada. Está também em linha com o que esperávamos. A expectativa é finalizarmos o ano com 40% do PIB", explicou Lopes.
Na avaliação do BC, atuam como fator de estímulo para a expansão do crédito o dinamismo do consumo das famílias, com destaque para o crédito pessoal e as operações de leasing.
O volume de crédito para o setor privado atingiu, em abril, R$ 998,1 bilhões, expansão de 2,5% no mês. Contribuíram para a alta o aumento de 2,6% em empréstimos de pessoas físicas, 3% em financiamentos para a indústria.
O crédito livre somou R$ 725,5 bilhões, com aumentos de 2,8% no mês e 35% no período de doze meses.
De acordo com Altamir Lopes, o estoque de crédito a pessoas jurídicas atingiu R$ 378,5 bilhões, ou acréscimo de 2,9% ao mês. Os financiamentos a pessoas físicas, por sua vez, cresceram 2,7% em abril, totalizando R$ 347 bilhões.
"Há uma pequena mudança (na comparação entre pessoas físicas e jurídicas) que temos que começar a acompanhar. Há um pouco de acomodação do crédito de pessoa física. O credito à pessoa jurídica se dá principalmente com recursos captados internamente, e ele tem crescido de forma bastante expressiva", disse.

FEATURE-Ethanol boom brings change to Brazil cane growers

Tue May 27, 2008 8:03am EDTBy Inae Riveras
SERTAOZINHO, Brazil, May 27 (Reuters) - At the start of this year's cane harvest at the Sao Francisco ethanol mill, workers gathered to ask God for protection and a good crop.
It was a traditional Roman Catholic mass, held inside the mill's main building amid the sweet smell of sugar cane.
Around 150 employees and their relatives surrounded an imposing altar. The offerings included a bottle filled with ethanol, a wooden toy truck and a cane cutter's machete.
"It's a long tradition. Our industry has a family roots, we are Catholics as are many of our employees," said the mill's executive officer, Jairo Menesis Balbo. "We thank God for our production and ask Him help to start another one."
Nearby stood giant machines that are set to crush more cane than ever in the coming months to meet national and global demand for ethanol to fuel cars. Brazil is heading for a record sugar cane crop, with an expected cane output of up to 580 million tonnes.
A world leader in biofuels, Brazil has decades of expertise in using sugar cane to make ethanol for cars, in a process that is much more economically viable than using corn, the major ethanol feedstock in the United States.
Brazil launched a national program to stimulate consumption and production in the 1970s. Its most recent boost came in 2003, with the launch of flex-fuel vehicles, which can run on gasoline, ethanol or a mixture of the two. Ethanol consumption surpassed that of gasoline earlier this year for the first time in two decades.
But change is in the air as the ethanol boom attracts investors from all over the world and some fear old customs could fade away, along with traditional management models, as the industry is consolidated into fewer, bigger and vertically integrated companies.
Analyst Julio Maria Borges sees Brazilian cane output doubling by 2015, but he predicts it will be in the hands of about 30 large groups, compared with around 200 currently.
Brazil's largest sugar and ethanol group, Cosan CSAN.3(CZZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which crushed 36 million tonnes of cane last crop, is the clearest example of verticalization.
The group bought some of ExxonMobil's assets in Brazil in April, becoming the world's first renewable energy player with operations from planting to filling stations.
The entry of oil giant BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) into the sector, also announced last month, is another example of changes.
The British company bought half of Tropical Energia SA, a joint venture between Brazilian groups Santelisa Vale and Maeda. The new company will operate two ethanol distilleries.
"Companies will stop worrying about selling their product at the mill gate only, and will look more toward the final destination," said Antonio de Padua Rodrigues, technical director at the Sugar Cane Industry Association (Unica).
He cited as examples U.S. company Cargill and Brazilian Crystalsev's investment in a sugar refinary in Syria, Coimex and Crystalsev's ethanol dehydration plants in the Caribbean and Copersucar's ethanol terminal in Rotterdam.
"Nowadays all the big groups have logistic companies to trade their products. And smaller ones will likely join forces to set up trading companies too," Padua said.
In this environment, old rituals like the start-of-season mass could fade away. The masses have taken place for decades in nearly all the 380 mills around Brazil, most of which are named after saints and still run by descendentants of their founders.
"As industry consolidates and foreign companies arrive, it's likely traditions will disappear. A fund based in New York or London won't keep this kind of thing," said Plinio Nastari, president of leading sugar and ethanol analysts Datagro.
OPPORTUNITIES
BP was the first oil giant to enter the market but others are expected to follow. In just one year, the foreign share in Brazil's cane sector doubled to 12 percent of all cane crushed, according to Datagro.
About 85 new mills have come onstream since 2005 and 60 more are scheduled to begin operating by 2010, with total investments of around 40 billion reais, according to Unica.
The expansion has increased environmental concerns, pressuring the industry to change practices adopted since the days of slavery, such as manual cutting.
While many local companies are expected to be snapped up multinationals, some see the boom as an opportunity for expansion.
"The next three years won't be easy. These new companies arrive with an investment capacity which we don't have here," Jairo Balbo said.
To face the fiercer competition, Balbo is in talks with an undisclosed big company on a deal that could include the transfer of a minority stake to his group, which was founded by Jairo's grandfather, Attilio Balbo.
The son of Italian immigrants, Attilio bought his first mill, Santo Antonio, in Sao Paulo state, in 1947 and nearby Sao Francisco six years later. The group's annual turnover is now about 350 million reais ($210 million). It will soon inaugurate its third mill, in Minas Gerais state.
"Our industry will change dramatically in 10 years," Jairo Balbo said, citing the case of Brazil's second-largest sugar and ethanol producer, Santelisa Vale, as a successful example.
Santelisa Vale was created through the merger of Santa Elisa and Vale do Rosario groups last year. A few months later, investment bank Goldman Sachs took a minority stake and was followed by the investment arm of Brazil's development bank, BNDESPar. The last important step of the group, which plans an IPO at Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, was the deal with BP.
"Companies have become more and more impersonal and far from people, but I think some of the tradition will always persist," said Luiz Biagi, whose family still has a controlling stake in the group, which will crush 20 million tonnes of cane this season.
One of Brazil's most traditional sugar clans, the Biagi celebrates many weddings and baptisms in a church on the same property as its main mill, Santa Elisa. Luiz Biagi's father, Maurilio, is buried next to the mill. (Reporting by Inae Riveras; Editing by Eddie Evans)

Oposição anuncia obstrução contra 'nova CPMF'

Governistas querem colocar novo tributo em votação já nesta quarta.
'Nova CPMF' pode se chamar Contribuição Social para a Saúde
G1 / Eduardo Bresciani
28/05/2008
A oposição anunciou na noite desta terça-feira (27) que irá fazer obstrução na sessão desta quarta-feira (28), em que está pautada a votação da regulamentação da emenda 29 com a vinculação da nova CPMF, batizada de Contribuição Social para a Saúde (CSS). A base aliada promete “tratorar” os oposicionistas e insiste na votação do novo tributo nesta semana.
Em uma reunião de emergência com todos os líderes nesta noite, o presidente da Câmara, Arlindo Chinaglia (PT-SP), tentou um acordo, mas não obteve sucesso. “A oposição me informou que, em função de a base aliada apresentar um substitutivo ao projeto da emenda 29, iria entrar em obstrução. Eu chamei uma reunião do colégio de líderes, mas não houve acordo”, disse o petista.
O líder do PPS, deputado Fernando Coruja (SC), reclama que a oposição foi enganada pela base aliada. Segundo ele, o acordo era para a votação apenas da regulamentação da emenda 29, vinculando 10% dos recursos da União para a Saúde e não do novo imposto.
“Vamos tentar tirar de pauta e, se não der, teremos de obstruir. O acordo era para matérias de consenso e foi colocado o projeto do Senado da emenda 29, que não tinha nada de nova CPMF. Fomos ludibriados”, protestou Coruja.