Brazil's Eike Batista eyes new $500 mln Gulf investment in 'supercane' project

Reuters | 31 March 2025

By Luciana Novaes Magalhaes and Oliver Griffin

- Project has already secured $500 million from Brazilinvest
- New sugarcane variety promises higher ethanol and biomass yields
- Some ethanol industry players skeptical about new technology

SAO PAULO, March 31 (Reuters) - Brazilian businessman Eike Batista, once the country's richest man, said a Gulf investor will soon announce a $500 million investment in his new project using modified sugarcane to ramp up production of sustainable fuels.

The project, which had already secured $500 million from Sao Paulo-based private development bank Brazilinvest, aims to close another investment of that size this week from a strategic investor in the United Arab Emirates, Batista told Reuters.

Batista's commodities and energy empire collapsed over a decade ago. His planned comeback, betting on a specially bred "supercane," has drawn skepticism from some critics in Brazil's well-established ethanol industry, but the businessman said his technology has passed a decade of testing.

"Supercane is our revolution," said Batista in a Friday interview.

He said the project - set to reach 70,000 hectares of planted sugarcane when it reaches maturity - could eventually produce more than 1 billion liters of ethanol, as well as some 979,000 metric tons of biodegradable packaging using biomass from processed cane.

The module, to be built in Rio de Janeiro state, will use the ethanol it produces to create more than half a billion liters of sustainable aviation fuel, Batista said. He hopes to eventually establish 20 modules of 70,000 hectares each.

He aims to supplant the RB867515 sugarcane variety - the most common in Brazil - with his new SC157070 variety that grows over five meters tall and allows denser planting.

Batista said the new variety can produce two to three times more ethanol than traditional cane, and seven to 12 times more biomass.
"In my vision, sugar mill owners in Brazil today, over the next five, 10, 15, 20 years, will swap all the sugarcane planted in Brazil today for this sugarcane, which has a different motor," Batista said.

INDUSTRY SKEPTICISM

Batista's project has faced criticism from Rubens Ometto, founder of Brazilian sugar giant Cosan, opens new tab, who said his past experiences with similar technologies failed to deliver on their promise.

Batista said Ometto's experience involved older technology, while his new project benefits from decades of advancements.

The former oil and mining tycoon's history of legal and financial woes is also hanging over the venture. Because he is legally barred from ownership at the moment, he is lining up rights for future issuances.

Batista once ranked among the world's richest people, until his holdings in the petroleum, power, ports and mining sectors collapsed spectacularly. He was arrested in 2017 on allegations he paid bribes for contracts with the Rio state government.

The entrepreneur denies any wrongdoing.

During his golden years in the 2000s, Batista took several companies public, including OGX, his flagship oil company, which failed to fulfill investors' expectations and was forced into bankruptcy protection. In 2021, he was convicted and fined for insider trading and market manipulation involving OGX.

Batista said he is not looking to take his new venture public, instead relying on funds from larger, direct investors.

He and his team are also working on the pilot phase of a cryptocurrency, called $EIKE, which is currently gauging investor interest outside of Brazil.

The potential use of cryptocurrency to finance the new sugarcane project has caught the attention of Brazilian market regulator, CVM, which is reviewing $EIKE. However, the token is not immediately intended for use in Brazil, Batista said.

Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes and Oliver Griffin Editing by Brad Haynes and Nia Williams