UNICA: Brazilian ethanol production, sales remain depressed
November 3, 2020
BY Erin Voegele
UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane industry association, has announced ethanol production and sales by mills in the south-central region of the country were down during the first half of October. Production of corn ethanol, however, continued to grow.
Mills in the region processed 36.85 million metric tons of sugarcane during the first half of October, down 2.05 percent when compared to the same period of last year. Since the beginning of the current harvest, which began April 1, mills in the region have processed 538.13 million metric tons of sugarcane, up 5.06 percent when compared the same period of last year.
According to UNICA, 239 units were in operation as of the middle of October, up from 234 plants that were operational at the same time last year. UNICA reported that 24 production units have ended their milling activities for the season.
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Ethanol production was at 2.06 billion liters (544.19 million gallons) during the first half of October, down from 2.3 billion liters manufactured during the same period of last year. Production included 1.3 billion liters of hydrous ethanol and 762.34 million liters of anhydrous ethanol. The production of hydrous ethanol was down 19.46 percent when compared to the same period of last year, while anhydrous ethanol production was up 10.72 percent.
Ethanol production since the beginning of the current harvest was at 25.57 billion liters, down 7.49 percent when compared to the same period of last year. Production of hydrous ethanol was down 8.64 percent while production of hydrous ethanol was down 8.64 percent.
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Corn ethanol production for the first half of October reached 120.19 million liters, up 86.98 percent. Corn ethanol production since the beginning of the current harvest season has reached 1.27 billion liters, up 90 percent when compared to the same period of last year.
Mills in the south-central region of Brazil sold 1.28 billion liters of ethanol during the first half of October, including 1.21 billion liters that were sold domestically and 68.81 million liters destined for export. Domestically, the sale of hydrous ethanol was at 863.11 million liters, down 14 percent when compared to the same period of last year.
Since the beginning of the current harvest period, mills in the south-central region have sold 15.94 billion liters of ethanol, down 15 percent when compared to the same period of last year. Approximately 14.43 billion liters were sold domestically, while 1.51 billion liters were destined for export.
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