Today 11:26 PM ET (Dow Jones)
By Jeffrey T. Lewis BARCARENA, Brazil-- Bunge Ltd. is in the middle of the process of selling its Brazilian sugar business, the outgoing chief executive of Bunge Brazil, Pedro Parente, said late Thursday.
"We're in the process and when we reach the moment (of closing a sale) we'll announce it," Mr. Parente told reporters at a dinner ahead of the inauguration on Friday of a grain-loading terminal in Barcarena, in northern Brazil. "We're looking for alternatives."
Bunge is one of the biggest grains handlers in the world, and in 2007 the White Plains, N.Y., company bought its first of several sugar-cane mills in Brazil.
The move into sugar didn't go as planned, partly because of low global sugar prices and the Brazilian government's cap on the price of ethanol, which in Brazil is produced from sugar. Late last year the company said it was considering selling its Brazilian sugar assets.
"The business isn't producing enough returns," Mr. Parente said.
Mr. Parente is retiring from his position and the former head of the company's Argentine unit, Raul Padilla, will take over, effective May 1.
Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 24, 2014 23:26 ET (03:26 GMT)
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