Três Tentos wins approval to start first corn ethanol plant in Mato Grosso
ANP cleared Três Tentos’ first ethanol plant, a 2,800-metric-ton-a-day corn complex in Mato Grosso, with output sized at roughly 240 million gallons a year.
Três Tentos Agroindustrial on May 20 won approval from Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels to start operations at its first ethanol plant in Porto Alegre do Norte, Mato Grosso, a corn complex built to make 1,275 cubic meters a day of hydrous ethanol and 1,215 cubic meters a day of anhydrous ethanol. The agency inspected the site on May 6 and 7 before issuing the operating notice on May 19.
The project gives the company entry into a sector that has moved from niche to industrial scale far faster than many in Brazil’s fuel market expected. At full rates, the plant is designed to process 2,800 metric tons of corn a day and produce 785 tons a day of DDGS and 50 tons a day of corn oil, alongside about 240 million gallons a year of ethanol. Três Tentos has said the project was part of a broader expansion plan announced in early 2024 and carried a projected investment of about R$1 billion.
The launch matters because it lands in the middle of Brazil’s shift away from a sugarcane-only view of ethanol growth. EPE said corn-based ethanol output reached 7.7 billion liters in 2024, up 32% from 2023, and industry analysis has put corn’s share of Brazil’s total ethanol output at roughly 20% by 2024. By the end of 2025, the country had 34 corn-ethanol biorefineries, including 18 that relied exclusively on corn, with Mato Grosso emerging as the main center of gravity.
That geography is the point. Mato Grosso has the corn surplus, freight corridors and livestock-feed demand to support year-round ethanol runs, while DDGS and corn oil give plants extra revenue streams and local buyers another reason to anchor supply contracts nearby. In the 2023/24 crop cycle, about 25% of Mato Grosso’s corn production was used for ethanol, underscoring how quickly safrinha corn has become tied to the fuel market.
For Brazil’s producers and fuel buyers, Três Tentos’ entry reinforces a more diversified biofuels map in which corn ethanol complements sugarcane rather than merely testing the market. As more plants come online in the Center-West, Mato Grosso’s role as both feedstock basin and fuel hub is likely to deepen, and competitors will need to match that year-round logistics and supply advantage.
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