Ethanol producer Abengoa Bioenergy is likely to focus on greenfields in expanding its current production capacity. That is what Chief Executive Officer Javier Salgado told Ethanol Statistics in an exclusive interview.
“We have been comparing acquisitions and brownfield opportunities that we have come across in the last few years, but in all the calculations we have made, our conclusion has been that greenfield projects made more sense for us,” the Spanish executive said. Even though both the United States ethanol market and the Brazilian ethanol market are consolidating, the value of greenfields remains superior for Abengoa. “The choice depends on the size of the assets, the location of the assets, accessibility of the assets, raw material prices, logistics to market your product (…).”
In the interview Mr. Salgado discussed the strategic issues associated with the diversity of the markets that Abengoa operates in. In the absence of a substantial international market, synergies are not as straightforward as it seem. In line with its focus on greenfields, Mr. Salgado explains that Abengoa is “leveraging its knowledge”, adding that Abengoa “is going to have a unique position in terms of understanding the local markets.”
In the interview titled ‘Abengoa: the only global ethanol producer’, Mr. Salgado shares Abengoa’s view on the preconditions for an international market and for successful greenfields, emphasizing flexibility and water access as main strategic points. In the second part of the interview, that will be published next week, Mr. Salgado breaks down Abengoa’s strategy by market, explaining the different approaches that Abengoa has for the Europe, Brazilian and United States ethanol market.
The first part of the interview can be found
here.