Founded on July 1, 1959 the Cooperativa de Produtores de Cana-de-açúcar, Açúcar e Álcool do Estado de São Paulo, was formed of only ten factories in São Paulo, and two regional entities, Coopira and Coopereste. This union had a very simple objective: to market the production of alcohol, sugar and their by-products.

The Cooperative initially faced some difficulties. Its representation in the market at that time was low. Within less than a year of its existence the Cooperative was affected by a crisis that rocked the country. The European sugar surplus was almost fatal for sugar producers in Brazil, who eventually had 12 million 60-kilo sacks of the product in stock, causing a large drop in prices. A large area of plantation also remained in the field, without being used industrially. This was when the factory owners saw that it was necessary for them unite to recover from the crisis.

So the cooperative strengthened its economic and political base, set up a complete infrastructure for its associates, including experimental stations, economic departments, and advanced research laboratories. The objective now was not simply to market production, but also to be transformed into the first Brazilian multinational.

During this phase, the administration underwent some changes and the Cooperative became consolidated on the national scene. Domination of production, manufacturing and marketing processes for the products was achieved. With the privatization of Brazilian sugar exports at the start of the 1990s, Copersucar intensified its activity on the international market. From relatively small volumes – 0.29 million tonnes in 1991/92 to 2.2 million tonnes in the 1998/99 harvest, the Cooperative become one of the biggest largest private exporter in the world.

Seeking greater expansion of its markets, Copersucar has invested in restructuring and modernizing its sugar terminal at Santos (SP) and maintains a logistics complex, integrating port operations between the ports of Santos (SP) and Paranaguá (SC), to offer its users better shipping options, reduce costs and increase competitiveness.

In the period between 1974 and 1987, Copersucar doubled its sugar production capacity, beginning to serve the market for consumer sugars, and also industrial products that it was already marketing in crystal and syrup form. In 1975 the line of alcohol for domestic use – end consumer – was launched, together with crystal sugar, pioneeringly packaged in 2 and 5 kilo plastic bags. Previously the product had only been marketed for industrial use in 60 kilo packages. Copersucar maintained its leading position in the consumer sugar sector, working with revered and recognized brands on the Brazilian market.


Today, Copersucar is classified as a first rate company in terms of credit risk on the financial market, and benefits from the more competitive conditions offered by such status. In the same way, it operates directly with important financial institutions abroad, and also has partnerships with the principal institutions in the country, with which it is on best relations.

The initiative of industrial producers and sugar cane suppliers in the State of São Paulo is also worthy of mention, for demonstrating maturity and responsibility in developing and implementing a remuneration system in 1998 called CONSECANA, in favor of the quality of the raw material, which was adopted autonomously throughout the state and has become a national reference.