Productivity and financial discipline are advantages for the sugar-energy sector in the post-COVID era, says CEO of BP Bunge Bioenergia

São Paulo, June 10 – Companies in the sugar-energy sector that invest more in productivity and financial discipline have gone through and will go through the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic more smoothly. This is the conclusion of Geovane Dilkin Consul, CEO of BP Bunge Bionergia, who participated this Wednesday, June 10, in the webinar “Perspectives and Trends in the Sector in the Post-COVID era”, promoted by ProCana Brasil.

For Geovane Consul, the success of Brazilian agribusiness comes from the systematic and continuous pursuit of productivity. In this regard, he mentioned the sugar-energy sector’s investments in technology and harvesting mechanization, which started in 2008 and 2009.

The CEO explains that, although sugarcane is one of the most capital-intensive crops in the country, Brazilian farmers have successfully achieved competitive prices. As an example, he mentions that Brazil is the world leader in lower production costs for ethanol.

Geovane Consul emphasizes that the use of technology and the qualification of the productive base are essential to obtain these good results. “We must have a long-lived and productive sugarcane field”, he assesses.

Allied to this, the CEO recommends a great deal of financial discipline to companies. “We will have to work on productivity and on operational efficiency in order to be shielded”, notes Geovane Consul, given the scarcity of credit in the current market.

He also recommends caution to the sector when negotiating sugar produced in large quantities this year due to the drop in ethanol consumption and the consequent increase in the production of sugar by the mills. “It takes a lot of discipline in sales not to destroy the market. If we launch now all the sugar that we are going to produce in 2020, we will lose”, he says.

“Our sector has a very promising future, both for having products that will be much in demand – such as renewable fuels – and for sugar itself, not only as a food, but also as an important molecule for other purposes”, concludes the executive.