This page is about the Brazilian sugar and alcohol cooperative. For the Formula One motor racing team, see Fittipaldi Automotive

Fittipaldi Automotive

Fittipaldi Automotive, sometimes called Copersucar after its first major sponsor, was the only Formula One motor racing team and constructor ever to be based in Brazil. It was formed during 1974 by racing driver Wilson Fittipaldi and his younger brother, double world champion Emerson, with money...

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Copersucar S.A. is the biggest Brazilian sugar and ethanol company and one of the most important exporters worldwide. In its 50 years of activities, the company reached the number of 34 operating mills in the states of São Paulo, Paraná and Minas Gerais. The projected figure for the 2009/2010 crop is 79 million tons of sugarcane, a 16% volume increase over the last crop and a strong demonstration of Copersucar S.A.’s dynamic growth drive. The company accounted for 13% of all sugar and 13% of all the ethanol commercialized in the South Central region in the last crop. Within ten years, Copersucar S.A. plans to have a 30% share of the domestic market and be one of the major world players.

The company was created by the sugar and ethanol producers who are members of the Cooperativa de Produtores de Cana-de-Açúcar, Açúcar e Álcool do Estado de São Paulo and who are now the shareholders of Produpar, the holding company controlling Copersucar S.A.
The new business model permits the producer-shareholders to maintain their independence, autonomy, and the specific efficiencies of their production units, while enabling them to participate effectively in all other stages of the business chain, in which scale and knowledge of global markets are fundamental for generating and capturing value.

Copersucar S.A. has a unique business model, because it combines production efficiency in the mills, managed by the producers, with gains in scale in logistics, commercialization and risk management.