The equipment supply industry to sugar mills, ethanol and energy in Brazil: an analysis based in leading companies and key-organizations of sector and of LPA of Sertãozinho

This study aims to analyze the profile, organization, efficiency and innovation in the supply industry equipment for sugar mills, ethanol and energy in Brazil, contributing to an important discussion on the competitiveness of this industry. Therefore, the study was based on analysis of information obtained from two surveys: the first held with representative organizations and two industry-leading companies located in the cities of Sertaozinho and Piracicaba; and the second, through interviews with companies in the Local Productive Arrangement (LPA) of Sertaozinho, known as the Silicon Valley Ethanol. The results suggest that the increasing modernization of the sector will require greater efforts from equipment industry to provide plants with the necessary technological innovations and potential efficiency gains and that the constituent companies of this industry, few invest in technology and professional training, in other words, are lacking in management training, which leads to loss of valuable opportunities, international market share is tiny, most companies turn to private sources of financing, and companies seem unaware of the real benefits of cooperation, although they appear in most companies in this industry.