São Paulo – Procknor, an industrial engineering company headquartered in São Paulo is responsible for developing the project that should grant Sudan a mill for production of sugar, ethanol and energy, capable of grinding 1.3 million tonnes of sugarcane a year.
Forecasted for inauguration in 2012, the mill should have capacity for production of 75 cubic metres of ethanol and 1,200 tonnes of sugar a day, apart from generating 22 megawatts of energy a year. The Brazilian company was hired by Kenana Engineering Technical Service, a subsidiary of Kenana Sugar Company, the largest company in the sector in the country.
To win the project in the Arab country, named Mashkoor Sugar Project, the company participated in an international tender. "A global inquiry was made and Procknor was contemplated with this contract due to our experience, both in Brazil and abroad," said Luiz Roberto da Cunha, Planning and Works manager at Procknor.
The company is specialized in industrial projects for the sectors of sugar, ethanol and bioenergy. In Brazil, it has projects all over the country, mainly in the Southeast and Midwest. Abroad, the company has developed projects in Mexico, Iran, Colombia, Central America, Angola and Europe.
The project is divided into three phases and is currently at its second phase, in which the Sudanese company is acquiring the equipment necessary for operation of the mill. The last phase should be the installation of the equipment. The cost of the industrial phase of the unit is 230 million Brazilian reals (US$ 136 million), which does not include the agricultural part of operations.
Cunha pointed out that the company has plans to continue operating in partnership with the Sudanese. "We know that they have plans for the future. We are being very successful and the contact with technical personnel there is very good," he pointed out. "They work with PMI [Project Management Institute] methodology, by an international organisation that guides best practices for project management," explained the executive.
A project like that of the Sudanese mill takes about 24 months for implementation and uses a team of approximately 20 people, including technicians and engineers. In total, Procknor has over 80 employees.
Apart from Sudan, Cunha stated that the company is also interested in other Arab countries. "We are open to any contact. We even have an agent who prospects the region for us," he finished off.
Contact
Procknor
Tel.: (+55 11) 3898-1511
E-mail: luiz.cunha@procknor.com.br
Site: www.procknor.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
