UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane industry association, recently released data for the first half of March showing continued strong ethanol sales. Sugarcane milling during the period was down, while corn ethanol production was up.

According to UNICA, production units in the south-central region of Brazil processed 1.59 million tons of sugarcane during the first half of March, down 53.48 percent when compared to the same period of last year.

During the first half of the month, 27 sugarcane processing units were operational, along with six corn ethanol production units.

Approximately 52.76 million liters (16.94 million gallons) of corn ethanol was produced during the two week period, which UNICA said was an all-time high. Since the beginning of the current season, which began April 1, 2018, UNICA said total corn ethanol production has reached 754.05 million liters, up from 590.14 million liters during the same period of the previous harvest.

UNICA said total ethanol production for the two-week period reached 141.9 million liters, Since the beginning of 2018-’19 season, total ethanol production has reached 30.56 billion liters, up 19.11 percent when compared to the same period of last year. Production included 21.46 billion liters of hydrous ethanol and 9.1 billion liters of anhydrous ethanol.

Ethanol sales during the first half of March reached 1.22 billion liters, including 37.83 million liters destined for export and 1.18 billion liters sold into the domestic market. Within the domestic market, sales of hydrous ethanol reached 824.12 million liters, up 23.51 percent when compared to the same period of 2018, while sales of anhydrous ethanol reached 363.67 million liters.

Since the beginning of the 2018-’19 harvest, the volume of hydrous ethanol sold has reached 20.05 billion liters, up 35.6 percent when compared to the same period of the previous harvest.