UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane industry association, has announced that domestic ethanol sales by mills in the south-central region of the country were up slightly during the first half of March when compared to the same period of 2020.

Mills in the region processed 1.67 million metric tons of sugarcane during the first two weeks of March. Nearly 70 percent of that volume went to ethanol production. From the beginning of the 2020-‘21 harvest season, which began April 1, 2020, through mid-March mills in the region have processed an estimated 600.47 million tons of sugarcane.

Ethanol production was at 199.88 million liters (52.8 million gallons) for the two-week period, with 127.60 million liters of that volume produce from corn feedstock.

Total ethanol production from the beginning of the 2020-’21 harvest season through March 16 was at 29.99 billion liters, including 2.42 billion liters of corn ethanol. Corn ethanol production was up 60.85 percent when compared to the same period of the previous harvest.

Ethanol sales by mills in the south-central region reached 1.24 billion liters during the first half of march, including 1.17 billion liters sold domestically and 69.27 million liters destined for export.

Domestically, sales included 778.59 million liters of hydrous ethanol, up 11.13 percent when compared to the same period of 2020, and 390.26 million liters of anhydrous ethanol, up 1.85 percent.