UNICA: Domestic ethanol sales down, exports up
September 18, 2020
BY Erin Voegele
UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane industry association, has released data showing both ethanol production and domestic sales were down during the second half of August. Ethanol exports, however, were up when compared to last year.
Mills in the south-central region of Brazil processed 42.11 million tons of sugarcane during the second half of August, down 12.21 percent when compared to the same period of las year.
Since the beginning of the current harvest season, which began April 1, mills in the region have processed 415.09 million tons of sugarcane, up 3.83 percent when compared to the same period of the previous harvest.
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Ethanol production was at 2.16 billion liters (570.61 million gallons) during the second half of August, down from 2.73 billion liters during the same period of last year. Production included 1.5 billion liters of hydrous ethanol and 659.46 million liters of anhydrous ethanol.
Since the beginning of the current harvest period, ethanol production has reached 18.97 billion liters, down 7.1 percent when compared to the same period of the previous harvest. Corn ethanol accounted for 910.57 million liters of that volume, up 99.6 percent when compared to the same period of the 2019-’20 harvest.
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Mills in the south-central region sold 2.69 billion liters of ethanol in August, down 13.3 percent when compared to the same period of last year. Of that volume, 2.38 billion liters were sold domestically and 306.34 million were destined for export. Domestic sales of hydrous ethanol were at 1.6 billion liters, down 20.54 percent, while sales of anhydrous ethanol were at 794.85 million liters, down 2.6 percent.
The 306.34 million liters of ethanol destined for export in August was up 6.28 percent when compared to the same period of 2019. So far this season, mills in the south-central region have sold 1.1 billion liters of ethanol into the export market, up 25.17 percent.
According to UNICA, mills in the region have sold 11.74 billion liters of ethanol so far this season, down 17.85 percent when compared to the sale period of last year. Total domestic sales were at 10.64 billion liters, down 20.64 percent.
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