Ribeirao Preto: Agrion Fertilizantes is aiming to produce 500,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser from sugarcane waste by 2031, a move that could help Brazil reduce its dependence on imported fertilisers, the company’s founder and chief executive Ernani Judice said, Reuters reported.
Judice said the plan is intended to protect the country’s agriculture sector from risks linked to global political tensions. Brazil is the world’s largest sugar producer and grows hundreds of millions of tonnes of sugarcane every year, but it relies heavily on fertiliser imports.
According to data from Embrapa, Brazil imports about 85 per cent of the nearly 41 million tonnes of fertiliser used annually. Consultancy Agrinvest estimates that around 41 per cent of Brazil’s urea imports in 2025 passed through the Strait of Hormuz, highlighting the country’s exposure to global supply disruptions.
Recent tensions involving Iran, following military strikes by Israel and the United States, have pushed up prices of oil and other commodities, drawing attention to Brazil’s reliance on foreign fertiliser supplies.
Speaking at an industry event organised by consultancy Datagro in Ribeirão Preto in São Paulo, Judice said Brazil imports around 20 per cent of its fertiliser from countries frequently affected by geopolitical tensions.
The company produces fertiliser using waste from sugarcane processing at plants located near existing sugar and ethanol mills. Agrion currently has three factories in Brazil, including one already producing about 40,000 tonnes annually, while two more plants are under construction.
Judice said the company plans to expand to 10 factories by 2031. Under this plan, annual production could reach about 500,000 tonnes of fertiliser, generating nearly 2 billion Brazilian reais (about $387 million) in revenue.
The project has received financial backing from the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, which has already invested $20 million in the company and may increase its support to $50 million, Judice said on the sidelines of the Datagro event.
