Sao Paulo, Mar. 26 - Louis Dreyfus Commodities said Wednesday it will invest 550 million Brazilian reals ($316 million) to enter the not-from-concentrate orange juice market over the next five years.
The investments will be made between 2008 and 2012, with the first BRL50 million going to construct a new NFC juice terminal in the Port of Santos, Sao Paulo.
NFC orange juice is a processed and pasteurized juice that is made differently than the more popular frozen, concentrated orange juice. Transportation costs compared to FCOJ juice are higher because shipping the equivalent volume of NFC juice would require six times the volume, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
NFC is considered as close to fresh-squeezed in flavor and has been experiencing growing demand in Brazil's main juice markets in the U.S. and Europe.
Louis Dreyfus Commodities chief executive in Brazil, Kenneth Geld, said the company would plant 2.5 million orange trees in 2008, roughly the same as it planted in 2007.
The company has around 29,000 hectares of orange groves growing in Brazil.
Brazil is the world's leading exporter of FCOJ and world's leading producer of oranges. The new terminal in Santos will also be used for FCOJ storage and exports.
Louis Dreyfus Commodities is one of the world's leading merchandisers of orange juice, grains and oilseeds.