Brazilian conglomerate Cosan SA Industria e Comercio last Tuesday signed a 20-year contract with ExxonMobil Lubricants Trading Company to exclusively produce, import, distribute, and sell Mobil brand lubricants and specialty products in four South American countries - Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Cosan is a Brazilian holding company engaged in the production of ethanol, sugar, biofuels and electric power, investment in agricultural properties, and the distribution of liquid fuels and lubricants. Its main products include hydrated ethyl alcohol fuel, anhydrous alcohol, gasoline and diesel.
The company entered in the fuel distribution, lubricant production and marketing businesses in 2008, after it took over Exxon Mobil's Brazilian unit. Three years later, it also purchased ExxonMobil Lubricants Trading Company's assets in Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Locally, Cosan holds an interest in two joint ventures formed with Anglo-Dutch firm Shell: Raízen Combustíveis, active in the fuel distribution business, and Raízen Energia, engaged in the production and marketing of sugar, ethanol and energy cogeneration.
In 2012, it completed the acquisition of Comgás, a US$1.7 billion deal for a 60% stake in the company, which is Brazil's largest natural gas distributor. The transaction added to Cosan's business the concession for piped gas distribution in 177 municipalities throughout the state of São Paulo.
Based in São Paulo, Cosan manages through its subsidiaries 24 sugar and ethanol mills, over 5,000 service stations, 58 distribution terminals, a lubricant oil blending plant in Ilha do Governador, Rio de Janeiro, and more than 570,000 acres of farmland, among other assets. It has a total installed capacity of 940MW and burns sugar cane bagasse to generate power.