RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil-A Brazilian natural rubber trader and producer has made a deal with a French-Malaysian joint venture company to distribute Southeast Asian NR throughout South America. Bom Zon de Importacao e Exportacao, a company of the Bom Zon Group headquartered in Rio, signed an exclusive commercial representation agreement May 3 with Aldec, according to reports in the Brazilian business newspaper, ``Gazeta Mercantil.''
Aldec is a joint venture between the Safic-Alcan Group of France and the Malaysian Rubber Development Corp. Bhd.
Bom Zon initially will supply Aldec's rubber to the ``Mercosul'' countries-Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina-through the port of Montevideo, Uruguay. From there, distribution will spread to all of South America, the companies said.
The agreement with Aldec will also allow the transfer of Malaysian NR planting, extraction and processing technology to Bom Zon Amazonia Agroindustrial, the NR-producing arm of Bom Zon, according to Jose Antonio Garcia, Bom Zon's managing director. Bom Zon Amazonia in turn will transfer the technology to its 600 small holders in Mato Grosso and Espirito Santo, Brazil.
South America consumes about 300,000 tons of NR annually. Brazil consumes approximately 125,000 tons but produces only 40,000 tons in its Amazon region.
Last year Bom Zon imported about 20,000 tons of NR to Brazil. The firm posts annual sales of about $80 million.