(Bloomberg) -- The world’s biggest supplier of ethanol made from sugar cane is considering building a sustainable jet fuel plant in its home country of Brazil.

“We truly believe that there is a structural advantage to producing in Brazil,” the top sugar-cane-growing nation, Raizen SA Vice President of Trading Paulo Neves said in an interview.  

The company, owned by Shell Plc and Cosan SA, sees economic sense in producing sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, in Brazil given it requires such large volumes of the feedstock. Shipping costs for exporting the final product would be 70% less than the cost of exporting ethanol for processing into jet fuel abroad, Neves said.

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Still, plans for a local aviation fuel factory are in early stages. Raizen has partnered with a technology provider and is in discussions to define the scale of the project, he said.

Production of SAF from ethanol is still in its infancy, with the first plant starting in the US just last month. While Raizen believes it would be beneficial for Brazil to bet on sustainable jet fuel, the firm is still analyzing the economics. A Brazilian SAF plant would be competing in the global market with factories located in countries that already have tax incentives in place, Neves said.

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