Morning, welcome to the call earnings for 3tentos 1st quarter. Today with us we have Mr. João Marcelo Dumoncel, CEO and IRO, Luiz Osório Dumoncel, Cristiano Machado Costa, CFO, and Eduardo Motter, IR Manager. This conference is being recorded and will be made available at the company's IR website, where you can also find the respective slide deck. If you need simultaneous translation, we do have that facility by clicking on the interpretation button, which can be found on the bottom part of your Zoom screen. For those listening to the conference in English, there's an option to mute the original Portuguese audio. Just click on the respective button during the event. All participants will be connected in listen-only mode. After that, we'll start the Q&A session. Questions can be sent via audio by clicking on the Raise Hand button, also found in the bottom part of the screen.
To send text messages, just click on the Q&A icon, also found on the Zoom screen, and type in your question. Before moving on, we'd like to say that forward-looking statements made during the company's presentation concerning the company's business outlook, operating and financial goals, and the company's future growth potential are beliefs and assumptions on the part of the company's management and are based on information currently available. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not materialize. Investors should have in mind that general economic conditions, agribusiness conditions, and other operating factors might affect the company's future performance and produce results that will differ from the ones shared here in these forward-looking statements. Now I turn the conference over to Mr. Dumoncel. Please, Mr. Dumoncel, you may carry on.
Thank you. First of all, good morning, everyone. It is with great joy that we meet you all here this morning to yet again share another quarter of results for 3tentos. Without a doubt, this has been a quarter which was quite special that shows strong growth, strong performance right off the bat in 2026. We've enjoyed very positive numbers, important growth indicators starting by revenue, over 20% of increase. Just to highlight, this is the 29th consecutive quarter where we've host growth in our revenues. We also had, in addition to sales and revenues, which is of course fundamental, we also saw our margins grow. A n important growth in just the EBITDA, net income, and so on. The other indicators on the slide that show we have started with our best foot forward this year.
When we look at those numbers from the point of view of different industries or segments, as we usually do, we break our performance down across three different pillars. As you can see on the slide, you see the three segments, inputs, grains, and industry, have all contributed to the final growth. If we go into more detail across each of those numbers, starting with ag inputs, we saw an increase of more than 30% in income or revenue from inputs, where we could highlight the following. Of course, the growth of the company in new stores. We have been talking about it recurrently. Stores have a maturation or maturity cycle, and that maturity cycle is still going strong, with several stores still growing. Of course, other gains in older, more mature stores. Our IPO happened in 2021, as you know.
With a cycle that we predicted to last for five years. Almost all stores which have been open since the IPO, 35 of them, they are still gaining market share, which of course reflects in the ag inputs pillar. Of course, the climate situation in Rio Grande do Sul state in this quarter, in the first quarter of 2026, we had a quarter which is quite better than the one we had last year, which also helped drive this growth. In the second pillar, grains, that's where we saw the most relevant growth. That growth is also linked to what I said when I talked about ag inputs. More stores, more businesses, more barter operations, especially in Mato Grosso state, where we just saw harvest operations being finalized in Q1. That also is reflected in this growth in the grains pillar.
As for Rio Grande do Sul, where we only started harvesting in late March. We saw an increase in corn, the volume of corn sold vis-a-vis wheat because of the harvest of the wheat which happened last year was a smaller wheat, which price is under pressure, of course, which has helped reduce businesses and sales revenue in wheat. Increase in corn offset that drop in wheat. As for the industry pillar, we see a smaller growth in compared to the first two, 5% growth in revenue. When we look at the growth in volume, it was way above that. 12% in biodiesel in volume and 24% in meal, soybean meal, in volume. The number here expresses also a drop in prices.
It's also worth mentioning that this volume can also be explained by the ramp up of industrial facilities, which have been increasing capacity. On the next slide, we see our adjusted EBITDA. That's how we first approach those numbers, the EBITDA margin. The financial result, which is also adjusted by derivatives and commodities. That's also an effect which is taken into account as we usually do. Leading up to an adjusted EBITDA of BRL 394 million, twice as much as we posted last year, elevating our EBITDA margin to 9.4%, which we understand is a quite significant result, which shows the important gains the company has accomplished across several factors. That is also present in the release we published yesterday.
All segments contributed to this higher margin, to this ma rgin gain, especially when you include the hedging operations along with the other indicators. It's important to have that snapshot, that breakdown of numbers for you to have a clear idea. Speaking of numbers, I'd like to call Cristiano to the call, who will be continuing to shed some more light on the company's numbers. Over to you, Cristiano.
Good morning, everyone. Now we have closed our first quarter of 2026 with a net debt, excluding financial and cash terms, to the tune of BRL 1.64 million. As you can see, that amount is in line with the growth of our invested capital for the past 12 months as we built our new corn ethanol plant in Porto Alegre do Norte and also our industrial expansion in other geographies.
Our leverage when we look at this adjusted EBITDA with the effect of the operating hedging operations mentioned by João, we reached a level of 1.37x , very much in line with what we had in our plans when we started planning the new growth cycle. We understand we are on the right track, a track which is what had been planned, which is important for the company. On the next slide, we show how the change in net debt unfolded throughout the first quarter. We had an evolution of BRL 473 million, as you can see. The first component, which is also predicted the dividend payout, BRL 91 million.
We also had scheduled the completion of money raised to finalize Porto Alegre do Norte and other expansion works, leading to an amount of BRL 245 million on the top of the slide. Lastly, we had some need for working capital, which is traditional, especially in the first half of the year. Especially because of receivables and payments, especially for soybean grains. That's a seasonal effect, happens mainly in the first half and had already been scheduled. To balance is our cash generation, operating cash.
We are within the expected path, and we are ready to be able to reach the end of the year within we had planned in terms of cash generation and also in terms of leverage. It has been a healthy quarter for the company all in all. Having said that, I give the floor back to João Marcelo Dumoncel, our CEO, who'll be mentioning about the outlook for the remaining of the year. Over to you. Luiz Osório Dumoncel, sorry.
Good morning, everyone. Cristiano, thank you for participating. This is our first call for 2026, earnings call. I'm very happy to be here and to have this beautiful snapshot here on the screen. This is a photo taken two or three days ago of our plant in Porto Alegre do Norte, May 15th. Today, we are communicating to all of you that the plant is now ready. Last week, we had a visit from ANP. They monitor, inspected all the facilities. They went back to Brasilia, they are doing the analysis, preparing a report and the final certification.
As soon as we have the certification in hand, we'll be ready to start. The corn for the first month of operation has already been transferred. We are 100% to receive the new corn harvest. We are in contact with several growers. I'd like to make reference to our 3tentos team, which led this expansion of the company towards the Araguaia Valley. I'd like to acknowledge the hard work you have all put in this project. On the next slide, we'll see our expansion across different areas in the country, what we have been doing and what we plan for the future. We are moving ahead as we had planned and communicated in our last 3tentos Day. You will remember, we mentioned we'll be moving to Pará, Goiás, Tocantins and Goiás. That's exactly what we're doing.
In this 1st quarter, we have already opened two stores, one in Santana do Araguaia and another one in Rio Verde, in Goiás. We are doing what's necessary to open the other stores we have planned for. Right now we have 75 stores spread across those states. If you think about coverage area, Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Minas Gerais, we're talking about approximately 25 million hectares, not including the second crop, the winter crops. In other words, the company's setting its footprint across very important agricultural states in Brazil. We do have a structure in place to expand efficiently with hiring the right people, hiring professionals who live in those regions, and we have been around.
That allows us to strengthen the culture of the company, irrespective of where we are, of the geography where we operate. We are taking differentiated solutions to growers across all those states. As stores mature, we realize the good level of acceptance that the regions have. We are being quite welcomed in those new states. On the next slide, which is the last one we have before we move to the Q&A session, I'd like to start by reinforcing the pace of new store openings. Along with that, I'd like to reinforce how much we have prepared and worked to get where we are. We are not opening stores just for the sake of it.
All the stores, all the grain units and the future, potential industries, they all are underlined by a lot of hard work in terms of preparation, planning, so that they can continue to expand with an eye on logistics. The industrial expansions which we had announced last year, they have been completed. Right now, we are crushing soybean meal, soybean, 2,000 tons a day, 4,000 tons a day in Cruz Alta, and 5,000 tons of soy a day on BR-163 for the winter.
We are ready to start operations on our first ethanol plant for the company in the Vale do Araguaia, which brings about a capacity of 2,800 tons a day, which will lead us to over 1.2 million liters of ethanol per day, 800,000 tons of DDGS per day, and another 50 tons of oil. We are ready not only to start producing, but we are ready to start selling, marketing. We have everything in place in the ethanol front. Everything that was necessary to start this new work front is up and running. Right now, we're only waiting for the respective permits and authorizations from the authorities. In the coming weeks, we expect to start the operations in those geographies. We should also highlight Rio Grande do Sul.
Rio Grande do Sul had a summer crop which was good, not a bumper crop, a couple of failures here and there, but a good crop all in all. The market says it should harvest over 20 million tons of soybean in Rio Grande do Sul. The soybean has been harvested already. 3tentos continues its industrialization and marketing of those products. For the winter, we are now planting canola. Last year, we planted canola in 200,000 hectares in Rio Grande do Sul. This year, we should be getting close to 400,000 hectares. It is truly a product that added a lot of value to our chain at the right moment, at a very timely manner, so that growers in the area could have better financial numbers.
Canola is a product that has a lot of liquidity. Especially when we have biofuels being incentivized, it has become really attractive and we're quite confident in the progress of canola in Rio Grande do Sul. Those were the main comments for now, and we can move on to the Q&A and continue to chat. Thank you for your attention so far.
We'll now start the Q&A session. Questions should be sent via audio by clicking on Raise the Hand button on your Zoom screen right now. You will see a prompt to unmute your mic. To send a text message, click on Q&A, also on your Zoom screen, and then type in your question. Our first question comes from Henrique Brustolin from Bradesco. You may carry on, sir.
Good morning, Luiz, João Marcelo, Cristiano. Thank you for taking my questions. I'd like to explore profitability across industry and trading segments. Two points, actually. First, was there any mismatch between the hedging number we saw? Was there any mismatch hedge re-related to the previous quarter? Just you have a clearer picture of what level should be looking at. Number two, even if there is something around that hedge, possibly would still remain strong. In Q4, we saw a growth in logistics expenses without not setting on the gross margin indicator. A little more color on that. What were the elements that led to this important expansion in gross margin when we look at it on a quarter-by-quarter basis? What should we expect looking forward? Thank you.
Thank you, Brustolin. Henrique great question. We will comment on it. I'd like to ask João Marcelo to please touch upon, then Cristiano might jump in if he feels the need. Can we do that?
Okay. Good morning, Henrique. To your first point, there was no mismatch, as you put it, in terms of hedging. As for the gross margin topic, vis-à-vis logistics, and we have been talking about it, quarter-on-quarter, there is a compensation, an offsetting. When logistics go up, margins also have to go up. For us, it is important to see that the influence is linked to logistics, product mix, more soybean, more corn, more wheat. For example, corn in the Rio Grande do Sul area and the geographic mix as we grow in Mato Grosso. Logistics also grow, but you can also see, gross margin going up as well.
There's an upset in that respect, with gross margin also growing. That's a trend that we clearly saw in the Q1. A lot of soybean in Mato Grosso, logistics was still a bit under pressure, proportionally speaking, of course. We also had profitability coming from soybean. Last quarter, if you remember, we had a prevalence, if you will, of grains coming from corn. Especially in the Vale do Araguaia region, where we saw an increase in freight prices, logistics. Corn, because of its own characteristics and the timing, it brought about a smaller margin, and it couldn't, globally speaking, show or reflect on a higher margin growth. That's basically it in terms of explanation.
Okay. Okay, thank you.
Next question comes from Guilherme Palhares from Santander. Mr. Palhares, you may carry on.
Good morning, Luiz, João Marcelo, Cristiano. Thank you for taking my questions. I'd like to explore a couple of points. Separating numbers has been well addressed, I'd like to hear from you about the credit situation. We saw a low level of delay in your portfolio, a relatively low level of default. What happened on April 30th? Also, if you could talk about the increasing number of base for receivables compared to the last several months. Is there any negotiation going on? Number two, I'd like to hear from you about CapEx. Luiz mentioned all the expansion works which took place. What can we expect in terms of CapEx for the remaining of the year?
A bit of a breakdown when you open the expansion CapEx, when you add all the components together, it's about BRL 1.5 billion in investment. I'd like to know if anything changed or inflation also affected number for the CapEx line. If you already have established the infrastructure in Porto Alegre do Norte for the phase II of the ethanol plant. Thank you.
Thank you, Palhares, for your question. I'll start by commenting on your questions about the default levels once again, and I've been talking about this a lot, that shows the strength of our ecosystem, the 3tentos ecosystem. When we have a relationship with our partners from starting to the end, from planting to harvesting, things were always along with that.
As I said, from planting to grain delivering, when you do the hedging of those grains, we're always close to our growers. We see growers trying to manage their businesses in a responsible manner, managing their areas, their acreage, their businesses in a very responsible, sensible manner. We have received almost 100% of all the receivables, a couple of adjustments only. In Rio Grande do Sul, we are also doing well. Of course, we in the South, we have two crops and a bit of the third crop, we are still waiting for growers to amortize those remaining debts from previous crops, we had floods or droughts. All of that has been overcome or is being overcome by growers.
That level of close relationship with growers across all levels makes a difference and makes us sure and confident that default levels will remain low. I think João Marcelo can jump in and also talk about receivables a little bit.
Hi, Palhares. Yeah, Luiz touched upon the main point, payment terms. What can we talk about that? There's a trend, which is an increase in the sale of barter operations. As we grow operations in Mato Grosso, we'll see a higher impact on payment terms. Also another trend, which is the purchases being made beforehand, forward buying forward selling. I have [2077] corn being already purchased by growers or selling by growers. As they understand that, before the war, fertilizer prices were lower. That was a forward sell move.
We increased the sale of inputs for canola areas. All of that really materialized in Q1, right? This will only mature later in the year. There is a more extended term for that. Your third question around CapEx, we are now working on closing the numbers, and we will update the market very soon. There are a couple of moves they mentioned, foreign exchange rate, inflation, infrastructure for phase II of the ethanol plant, where we had a couple of added components, but we'll update officially the market very soon. Okay.
Okay. Just to confirm, as for the infrastructure in Porto Alegre, that has already been calculated with an eye on expanding down the road. Correct?
Correct. Yes. We are also ready or getting ready for both phases.
Thank you.
Next question from Mr. Thiago Duarte from BTG. Mr. Duarte, you may carry on.
Good morning, João, Luiz, Cristiano. Nice talking to you. I'd like to talk about Ag inputs a little bit. The first part of the question, I think, this is the best Q1 for that division probably ever, right? Despite an increase in Mato Grosso accounting for 40% of sales. I'd like to go back to a discussion we already had about the contribution margin coming from Mato Grosso in structural terms. How surprised you guys are with the slightly better margin in the region. You did mention mix reasons in Rio Grande do Sul, it gives us the impression that Mato Grosso is really, really helping in terms of profitability.
If you could break that down a little bit and separate, fertilizer prices on the one hand and structural issues on the other, competition, to help us understand if we should change the bar or move the bar as we go forward in terms of profitability. Number two, if you could talk about the profile of those new stores you have already opened in Goiás and Pará, especially when you look at Goiás. You're talking about a coverage area of about 1.6 billion hectares for that store alone, which will give that store a coverage area which would be larger than the average area that you have in Mato Grosso. Those new regions, should we expect something closer to what we have in Mato Grosso or something closer to Mato Grosso, larger margins and, lower turnover? That's important for us to understand all the regions as a whole. Thank you.
Good morning, Thiago. Thank you for your question. I'll comment a little bit on the Goiás store in Rio Verde. The release we published yesterday shows total areas in the states, in the regions and potential areas and pinpointing the areas as we conclude new stores. We plant a flag, if you will, that represents the potential that we can reach. Of course, we will increase the number of units, and as we do that, we will know the regions where we will really invest. When we move to Mato Grosso, we can look at Mato Grosso as 15 million hectares of soybean. If you look at the BR-163, a different number.
Those are the regions we have been putting, considering as a potentially important areas. We'll move to breaking that down as stores grow. That goes for Santana do Araguaia, Brasília and the other units that we are going to be opening. As for the contribution margins for ag inputs, I'd like to ask Marcelo to please jump in, please.
Good morning, Thiago. Yes, Ag inputs have been performing well as a segment. There are structural factors affecting, as you mentioned, the competition environment is less intense, less fierce, if you will. There was an accommodation of different players, and the market as a whole changed. I understand the market is now trying to find a better profitability level. Of course, competition is not that fierce as it used to be.
That mix plus margin has been increasing in Mato Grosso. Margins in Mato Grosso tends to be lower than in Rio Grande do Sul, and that remains true. That, that gap will vary depending on the moment. We saw a variation now, which is positive. That gap narrowed now. Important to say, Rio Grande do Sul in Q1, we also had, as I said, we had the canola coming into the equation. Canola revenue was quite important this quarter. Unlike Q1 last year, we had a better soybean crop this year, which helped improve product mix. Crop protection numbers also grew, which helped the product mix boost the margin. Looking at the future, looking ahead, we want to continue to focus on profitability.
We have several aspects, barter, alternative crops we have been investing and our after sale and services, ground as we go to other regions. O f course, new regions as a whole. In terms of structure, they will be similar or more similar to Mato Grosso. Perhaps a few regions will be doing better than others, depending on different situations, depending on different dynamics. We are quite optimistic for the year in summary, not only in terms of volumes, but also in terms of profitability.
Thank you.
Our next question comes from Bruno Tomazetto from Itaú. Mr. Tomazetto, you may carry on.
Hello, everyone. Thank you for taking my question. First, update on your ethanol plant as we get closer to the start, the economics for the first year, what kind of performance you expect for the first year?
There's also a drop in prices early on in the year. I would imagine that corn will also be a factor. Of course, there is a learning curve for a new operation. I'd like to know from you how we can expect the profitability curve throughout the year for the corn ethanol plant and where you expect to get to this year. A follow-up on the previous comments, it's clear that this is gonna be a higher cost year, fertilizers, seeds and all that. Just to try and understand your perception about whether we could see some acquisition timing effect that will change your mindset in terms of a distribution across the year. Growers delaying to make decisions. Do you see that already happening as we get closer to the planting season? Thank you.
Good morning, Bruno. Thank you for your questions. I'll start by ethanol, then I'd like to ask João Marcelo to add to my comments. As I mentioned early on in the presentation, all the commercial front, all the commercial structure is ready to start at the ethanol plant. We have the first contracts already finalized. We have bought most of the corn. Of course, with the new crop, we'll be buying more corn. Today, we are able to show that right now we are seeing results which are in line with what the market has reported.
The market has been reporting those return levels, and 3tentos is reaching those same levels, at the very minimum, the average number reported by the market. We are quite happy with that performance. It's a good outlook going forward. João Marcelo, can you comment on that as well? Also on agricultural costs vis-à-vis timing for purchases.
Okay. Good morning, Bruno. Yeah. I think we have the suspect expectation, the plant ramp-up. We are now making adjustments and commissioning, testing the plant with no product. That's what we are doing right now, testing the plant. We expect the ramp-up to be quick. I believe that perhaps in about 30 to 60 days, we will have the operations, the operation very close to stability. Everything going well. That's what we expect to see. As for cost, vis-à-vis products, we did have, early purchases, as I mentioned before, especially for fertilizers. When we talk about imports, but also, a lot of purchases which were pushed back.
Fertilizers did not come down to zero. In the after-war period, we saw a big drop, especially for nitrogen-based fertilizers. The one that really suffered the main impact. Phosphorus, too. N suffered more, nitrogen-based fertilizers. For the past few weeks, a month, that opened up a niche indeed for new negotiations around fertilizers. Growers continue to buy and selecting seeds. As soon as they harvest, they start defining seeds for the coming crop and also for crop protection. We're also seeing early purchases probably out of fear from the effects coming from the war. Not many molecules were affected by the war so far. In line with your question, we do believe that it's no longer something specific to this year.
Growers will make decisions later, especially when we have rendered those two. We are talking to suppliers so that we can have a good reaction power without running risks to have products ready to be delivered even as decisions are made later than sooner.
Okay, next question from Mr. Victor Benetti from UBS. Mr. Benetti, you may carry on.
Good morning, João , Cristiano and Luiz. Congratulations on your numbers. I have two questions. First, about the renewable fuel dynamics. How do you see that balance for the 2nd half of the year comparing biodiesel and ethanol, considering all the discussions we have been seeing in the market, especially a potential increase in the mandates, tax exemptions, new mandates. When you combine all that, how do you expect the industry to perform in the 2nd half of the year?
Looking at pricing also. A second question, if I may. Going back to the previous question about industry and grains from a slightly different point of view. If we were to consider a gross margin net of logistics and hedge, we could calculate that we would have a different margin, close to 9% in the quarter, which was Higher than last quarter, higher than last year, and higher than a historical average. I'd like to better understand how much of that we can see as recurring, and how much of that has to do with the specificities of this quarter, which have already been mentioned by you today. Thank you.
Good morning, Victor. Thank you for your questions.
As for biofuels, our view is that we are considering the second half of the year as suffering the effects of government decisions around the world, not only Brazil. There might be measures to support the respective economies to overcome this challenging moment. In terms of logistics, especially for oil, which is already affecting our countries. Actually, Victor, we have a longer-term view. We do believe that things will move forward and consolidate. We have to say that ethanol, which started with sugarcane and now corn-based ethanol, that is a consolidated market. It is a consolidated biofuel. Today, we have 30% of blend. We expect that mix to continue to grow and becoming even more efficient. As for biodiesel, we have 15%, working towards 16% as early as the end of this year.
We're already running tests for 20%. Brazil, with the cleanest energy source matrix in the world, I mean, it's nice when we meet business leaders and people in the market, professionals, they always have a positive word to say about that. They do acknowledge Brazil's huge competitive advantage on that front. We do have this important biofuel production, bringing about more possibilities to produce vegetal protein on the side. We are quite optimistic for the second half of the year, but especially for the long run. As for grains margins and industry, I'd like João Marcelo or Cristiano to add to that, if you can, please.
Okay. Actually, from a broader point of view, industry margins for grains saw a very good performance this quarter. Your question was, is it going to be recurrent?
Well, broadly speaking, not for this quarter, but we will increasingly have a growing industrial performance. That, of course, adds more margins, at least in theory, for the coming quarters. For the remaining of the year, we will have probably more volumes of soybean and also the ethanol plant going into operation. We understand that this will be a good catalyst for higher margins. As for grains, when we have a higher product mix in Mato Grosso, we have more opportunities to capture more margins. We have more opportunities to increase margins as we expand in the Midwestern part of Brazil, in addition to what we already have in Rio Grande do Sul. Cristiano, anything else to add?
Thank you, João. Just to add two important aspects. When we try to separate grain plus industry and exclude the other sectors, all the sectors are fundamental here. Oftentimes, one compensates the other proportionally. We need to reinforce the strength of our ecosystem by including barter and also as we operationalize our hedging positions. Oftentimes, we have a natural hedge, importing fertilizers and selling soybean. That goes under the operating hedge umbrella. That's also important to highlight. Also important to mention is that to João Marcelo's point in terms of opportunities, as we gain new geographies, as we capture more scale, we are able to reap more opportunities, not only in terms of logistics or barter or input sales, but also in grain trading, having a better inverted position, which was not possible before, and match the hedging operations and capturing other opportunities.
Despite prices having been stable when you compare December 31st with March 31st in commodities throughout the quarters, we see volatility, and that's where we need to be paying close attention to our positions. We do see that effect. Also the advantage of having longer barters, longer frames, combining all the strategies that allows us to capture all of that. Once again, we did have logistics as a high impact item. We need to understand what is mapped from your calculation. We do see an effect. We do have this investor education program throughout quarters, okay. To better understand how we can capture margin. There is also effect coming from SG&A. When you combine all that, we have, we are able to explain these good quarters. There are systematic elements and other which are structural.
As Luiz Osório said before, we need to increasingly look at status as a whole and throughout the year. We may have a quarter where logistics weigh a little more because of a structural challenge, and then we can do well on a following quarter. There's a balance and which is natural in this sector. It's natural in the whole industry to have better or worse quarters in terms of margin, but within the historical average. It is important to be resilient when you compare better quarters with more challenging quarters. This quarter, we had a lot of volatility, and we had the war starting. All of that has to be factored in, and then compare with our historical averages and acknowledge those results. That does not mean that challenges are gone. It's quite the opposite.
You mentioned renewable fuels. Subsidies being given to other fuels, gasoline. We have kept a closer eye on tax issues and how this will affect margins. As Luiz Osório said, we do have a long term view, but also paying attention to short term effects to be able to capture opportunities. With that, we're able to do a great job when we are doing business in the ethanol and DDG industries. We have been working a lot trying to find good long-term strategies, but also with an eye on short-term opportunities.
Okay, thank you. Thank you for your answers.
Another question. Our next question comes from Gabriel Barra from Citi. You may carry on, sir.
Hello, Luiz. João. Hello. Everyone. Thank you for taking my questions. I'd like to explore the investment side. You talked about corn ethanol in Porto Alegre do Norte.
If you could have a brief, follow-up. What's your outlook for the impact coming from that plant for this year? Expected to the plant to ramp up earlier this year. ANP has just inspected the plant. What kind of impact do you expect to see coming from the plant? Maybe you'll have fewer production months. How will that impact? Luiz said the plant should be going operational in the coming weeks, so a bit more color on that. Redenção. I know Redenção is a longer term project. What kind of CapEx are we talking about when you talk about Redenção? The CapEx in Porto Alegre do Norte, impacted. How do you see CapEx in Redenção? Should we have the same mindset, the same timeline for Redenção? We have been talking about, the war, E32 and B16.
There's been a lot of discussion this week in New York. I'd like to hear from you, how are things unfolding about E32 and B16, in your point of view. What can we expect to see this year? Thank you.
Good morning, Barra, and thank you for your questions. We're going to split the answers. I'll start talking about E32 and B16. We have been having meetings here in New York throughout the week that we've been here with several market agents, government agents, people quite linked to all of the procedures. As for B16, the tests are continuing. Within plan, we're getting close to the conclusion of that study for that to really materialize. Brazil is aware that today it does have a production capacity to reach that level, that percentage relatively easily.
There are adjustments being made, of course, in some industries, as far as we know, so that we have better quality of the product. We continue to produce this biofuel in a safe manner. Our expectation is that this could happen in the second half of the year, but if the worst comes to worst, early next year. As for E32, it's closer to becoming a reality based on what we've seen here. In all likelihood, as early as mid-year, here we'll see an increase of another 2% of ethanol, anhydrous ethanol, being added to gasoline. Those are the comments we've heard here throughout the week. As for investment in ethanol and impacts in the production months, we're not going to change our guidance yet, the guidance we have provided.
We think that in the coming weeks, about 30 days, perhaps a month, maybe a little more, we will have the plant 100% operational, producing. When we reach that level in about a month, we will then look and decide what kind of volume level we are going to be able to reach this year. As for Redenção and the CapEx for Porto Alegre do Norte, João Marcelo, if you could mention something about that.
Okay. As for CapEx, Barra, as I mentioned in my previous answer, we are assessing. It is likely above BRL 1.3. That was our first original number. Due to certain aspects I have already mentioned, we will update you very soon. As for Redenção, our project is exactly the same as the one we have in Porto Alegre do Norte.
There is a timeline, as I said. The objective for this year is to work with moving earth now. We only have a drier period between June and October for moving earth. T hat we can start works in 2027. That's the timeline we announced back then, and it's ongoing now. We are now finalizing the permit process so we can start implementing and moving the earth, as I said.
Thank you, João. Thank you, everyone.
Next question from Mr. Ricardo Boiati from Safra. You may carry on.
Good morning, Luiz, Marcelo, Cristiano. Thank you for the chance of asking questions. My question has to do with logistics expenses. Given the fact that there are many moving parts, and as Cristiano said, it's not always easy to separate logistics from the revenue mix and gross margin. I'd like to better understand your view on potential impacts coming from freight costs, a change in mix we should see happen in the second half with more corn crushing and potentially lower volume in the trading and grains division.
How much of that will influence the behavior of logistics expenses throughout the year, especially as we move into the second half? Within this context, if you could update Miritituba port, what's the status of the works? What do you expect to see in terms of start of operations? What kind of benefit will it have in the line of logistics expenses? Thank you.
Good morning, Ricardo. Thank you for your questions. Logistics, as 3tentos works increasingly with more value-added products, the logistics will have a different impact. It's not merely grain transportation across long distances. I'd like Eduardo to jump in to help you with your question. As for Miritituba, I think Cristiano can also help. He's been participating in the board meetings. Relative to that topic, he will be able to give you some more color on your question. Okay, over to you, Eduardo.
Okay. Thank you, Ricardo, for your question. Yes, when we look at the company's result, it's always important to look at the results, which is a gross income per segment combined with logistics. We can see in the first quarter of this year when compared to last year that there was an increase in gross margin. Because of the geographic mix, an increase in Mato Grosso.
When you look Q4, there was a difference in product mix within Mato Grosso itself, a lot more corn than soybean. That also impacts the EBITDA margin, even with the hedging effects being included. It's important look, at it as a whole, including logistics. Any prediction for the remaining of the year, we need to include several variables because of the mix, as I said, product mix and geographical mix. It's important to look at historical, a longer historical level, last twelve months. In the quarter, you can always see variations because of mix differences. It's important to look at the long, in the longer run historically. Historically, yes, we have been delivering better margins, better profitability for the company.
Now with all, with all the investments we have made in increasing capacity of the industry as we expand production, and with the start up of the new ethanol plant, we will hit some dilution in terms of logistics in the final numbers. It's important to follow up or to monitor throughout the quarters. With a look of a longer view, longer term, I will ask Cristiano to talk about Miritituba now.
Thank you, Eduardo. Thank you for your question, Ricardo. As for our terminal, our port terminal in Miritituba, things are going well, on track. We had a couple of issues because of high levels of rainfall, higher than expected in Q1. We have already recovered the works. In terms of ramp up, we continue to maintain our prediction. In Q4, we will be operational.
This is just the first phase. After that, we'll start the expansion works. In our view, in the first half of this year, we're able to capture some of that investment, which will allow us to overcome local issues and have better latency as we ship out grains. We're already working in full steam in terms of meal production in Vera. It'll be fundamental to have an exit, a way out to ship out those grains to capture efficiency gains in terms of speed and freight tariffs at the peak of the crop year when you have the higher price differentials, of course. As for freight prices, if I could complement what Eduardo said, that's the rationale you have mentioned.
As we add value, as we ramp up Porto Alegre do Norte, we will have less on grains moving and more DDG, more ethanol coming out. That's the plan. That effect will be observed as early as the second half of this year. Of course, freight costs, several components, toll, tariffs, diesel prices. It's also very sensitive to demand, so we need to explore strategic alternatives to mitigate those peak moments. Both Miritituba and Porto Alegre do Norte will play a fundamental role on that front when we compare second half of 2026 with 2025, 2027, 2026. Those will be fundamental numbers to compare.
Thank you.
We now close our Q&A session. I'd like to turn the floor back to the company for their final remarks. You may carry on, sir.
Okay, everyone, as we close our call, thank you so much for participating. Thank you for your questions, your interest in the company. I'd like also to highlight that at 3tentos we are turning, this has been five years since the IPO. This has been quite the journey, a very rewarding experience of working closer to the investor market and close to shareholders, always trying to improve. We've been doing this consta ntly, as you know. We have identified at the company for 31 years what we can do along growers. We have been able to overcome less favorable moments and also enjoy the more favorable ones. We try to strengthen the company as we strengthen our rel ationship with the growers. We do believe in the Brazilian agriculture industry as we believe in the company.
We believe in moving forward in the new stage. I'd also like to underline the hard job done by our team. We're talking about very special, very talented people who do exceptional work. Thank you to everyone and also a big thank you to growers, our long-term partners. Also, it's important to say, the focus the company has on discipline. Discipline in terms of capital allocation, discipline in terms of execution of businesses, always looking to reach, the best results with safety, maturity, governance. That's the final message I'd like to leave with you all as we close this quarter. Very, very excited for the 2nd quarter as we ramp up our Porto Alegre do Norte plant so that we can move on and growing as we had planned. Thank you so much once again, and have a nice day everyone.
3tentos' audio conference for Q1 2026 is now over. The IR department remains available for questions or comments you may still have. Thank you once again, and have a nice day, everyone.