The undeniable recent evolutions of the Brazilian sugar-energy sector go hand in hand with a strong industrial performance. This industry participation is revealed in the supply of machines and equipment, components, the most varied agricultural inputs and, perhaps mainly, in the typically industrial vision that allows creating and implementing integrated solutions to resolve specific bottlenecks of a given activity.

This has been the case with agribusiness in general, which has benefited immensely from industrial technologies to reach its current levels of productivity. It is thanks to the field-industry interaction that Brazil has been standing out in the world as a country that provides ever-increasing amounts of grains, meat, milk and many other products derived from agricultural activity.

Among these products are sugar and ethanol, which are the heart of the Brazilian sugar-energy sector. A sector that is indispensable for the national economy, due to its size, its pace of growth and its prospects. Here, too, we see a very strong and healthy interaction between companies in the sugarcane sector and industries. As CEO of SEW Eurodrive Brazil, I testify that the progress achieved by the sector is fueled by solutions that the industrial supply chain of the system, in which our company is proud to participate.

Not long ago, sugarcane milling in Brazil used low-performance drive systems. When we installed the first planetary gearbox in a sugarcane mill, in 2004, we introduced a change of concept in the sector. Thanks to this technology, the plants were able to abandon a drive system that generated a lot of energy loss, and thus began to have a much higher yield. This system proved to be capable of transmitting the necessary torque for almost lossless grinding. That is, with high efficiency in the use of energy and high yield in production.

This turned the key in the sector. So much so that after the introduction of the planetary reducer system for grinding, we saw that a trend had been started. Today, the planetary gearbox is a consolidated industrial innovation and considered essential for productive and high-performance plants. Those who are part of the thriving Brazilian sugar-energy economy know why they can see that planetary gearboxes are now a staple in all the country's large plants.

To meet the challenge of setting a trend, we believe in and invest in the sector. Following our intention to be a provider of integral solutions, we took forward the idea of the planetary gearbox for different configurations, in order to meet the different needs of the sugarcane sector.

Thus, today there are plants with a single large planetary gearbox and there are many of them that have several smaller gearboxes, depending on the individual operational strategic option chosen. The supplier industry has to adapt the product to its most specific needs. This is the difference that the supplier industrial sector can present: it is not just a question of manufacturing, but of thinking along with the best solutions, and applying specialized engineering to implement them.

There are always cases that pull us beyond the comfort zone. The industries that supply the sugar-energy system know that being a partner-industry means accepting the challenge and taking the solution to new horizons.

That's how we ended up designing and supplying the largest planetary gearbox in Latin America that operates in a sugarcane mill. It has torque of an incredible 9 million nanometers. The challenge is that, because we have made the largest and most powerful planetary reducer in the world, the sector's suppliers have the capacity to solve other major problems, with regard to mill drive.

Nevertheless, we are internally researching a new generation of planetary gearbox, with the sugarcane sector in mind. We will have the ability to generate even more torque than the current 9 million nanometers. And the best: the future largest planetary gearbox in the world will occupy the same physical space as the one currently installed. That's what makes the economic leaps of a sector.

However, it would be unfair to omit that the sector has many other interactions with the industry. After all, sugarcane activity is not just about grinding. For all stages of a plant's production process, the supplier industry dedicated to the sector has a solution. From receiving and preparing sugarcane to extracting bagasse and manufacturing ethanol and sugar.

We plan to work to offer high power electric motors to power such planetary gearboxes. This will be an industry necessity, as as planetary gearheads grow in torque, more horsepower will be required. The sector's supplier industry has responded with a clear perception of the achievements and economic potential of the sugar-energy system in Brazil.

Observing data from the Sugarcane Industry Union, we see that since 2000, annual crushing has gone from 250 million tons a year to more than 600 million tons a year. Across the country, there are 360 production units linked to the sector. Between April 2022 and March 2023, sugar and ethanol exports generated USD 13.4 billion in foreign exchange, second only to soy, meat and forest products. The sectoral Gross Domestic Product is estimated at around 40 billion dollars (representing around 2% of the national Gross Domestic Product).

The numbers above consolidate Brazil's highly privileged position in the global sugar-energy economy. Our country is the largest producer of sugar cane in the world, the largest producer and exporter of sugar in the world and the second largest producer of ethanol in the world.

If we add to these achievements the strong trends towards a green economy, it seems clear to us that the sugar-energy sector will gain even greater relevance in the future. The sector's production process is on the way to being carbon-saving. At some point, this will be realized by the industries of the world. It is certain that the sector's supplier industry will continue, together with the system, making partnerships increasingly solid.

SEW, Indaiatuba-SP