China Development Bank loans $75,600,000 to BBCA Brazil for Mato Grosso do Sul Facility

In 2013, according to Macauhub, Chinese group BBCA signed a letter of intent to invest 320 million USD in the agricultural sector of Mato Grosso do Sul in order to increase food production and the volume of state exports to China. According to page 7 of the BRICS working paper by Gustavo Oliveira, BBCA is building a maize/soybean processing and citric acid production factory ("indústria de processamento de milho e soja"). It is set to be in Maracaju, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The project would be a partnership between BBCA and the city of Maracaju in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. On May 19 2015, according to the state government of Mato Grosso do Sul, governor Reinaldo Azambuja signed the cooperation agreement between the state government, BBCA, and CDB for the processing plant. The plant has an estimated processing capacity of 1.25 million tons/year of corn and 1 million tons/year of soy. The plant will also process corn products: 150,000 tons of citric acid, 60,000 tons of maltose syrup, 300,000 tons of cornstarch, 60,000 tons of crystalline dextrose, 150,000 tons of lysine and others; and soybean - 170 thousand tons of soybean oil and 810 thousand tons of bean pulp. In September 2015, the China Development Bank loaned $75,600,000 to BBCA Brazil Industrial and Investments LTDA ("BBCA BRAZIL INDUSTRIAL E INVESTIMENTOS LTDA"), the Brazilian branch of the agricultural and science-tech industry company China BBCA Group Co. Ltd. The status and loan terms are unknown. The Brazil Central Bank lists the loan registration as complete. Although the Central Bank source doesn't explicitly link the loan to the project, it is likely since this project is one of the few within the right 2015 timeframe that associates BBCA and CDB in Brazil. In 2016, according to the state government of Mato Grosso do Sul, there were delays in the progress of the facility and a Chinese delegation was sent to affirm Chinese commitment to acceleration project implementation. An update from the state government in 2018 maintained that there were still delays in the project due to late delivery of works and product imports, and budget issues. What has been completed as of January 2018 includes support infrastructure for the main project: 2 warehouses, a shed, and 30 houses for the Chinese workers who will be working on the processing facility. The new estimated completion date is the end of 2019. An update in December 2018 by the state government cited more delays due to strong winds in the region but clarified a new completion date for October 2020 to start the production of cornstarch and citric acid.

Additional details

Government sources repeat a total investment of US $1 billion for the processing plant. Although the $75.6 million is accounted for in the Central Bank of Brazil, It is unclear if the rest of the financing is covered by the BBCA itself.

Number of official sources

6

Number of total sources

12