After absorbing R$1.3 billion in investments over the past six years, Boa Vista, an ethanol mill based in Goiás, has generated its first quarterly net profit for its controlling shareholder, Nova Fronteira Bioenergia, a joint venture of São Martinho and Petrobras Biocombustível. In the quarter ended in December, the unit posted net income of R$12.5 million. 

Although it's a symbolic result for an ethanol plant built during the 2006 biofuel boom — it reveals that the ethanol production model is still stumbling in Brazil. What ensured Nova Fronteira’s profit, and may continue to ensure it in the coming years, was the sale of electricity. Boa Vista sold 306MWh it generated from sugarcane bagasse in the last season.