UNICA: Fuel ethanol sales down 18% in early August
September 4, 2020
BY Erin Voegele
UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane industry association, has announced sales of fuel ethanol were down during the first half of August. Sales of alcohol for non-fuel use, however, continued to remain high.
Mills in the south-central region of Brazil processed 46.4 million metric tons of sugarcane during the first half of August, up 8.26 percent when compared to the same period of last year. Since the beginning of the current harvest season, which began April 1, mills in the region have processed 373 million tons of sugarcane, up 6.02 percent when compared to the same period of 2019.
Ethanol production reached 2.27 billion liters (599.68 million gallons) during the first half of August, including 1.56 billion liters of hydrous ethanol and 718.17 million liters of anhydrous ethanol. Of that total, 92.55 million liters were manufactured from corn.
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Since the beginning of the current harvest season, ethanol production has totaled 16.81 billion liters, down 6.44 percent when compared to the same period of last year. Production included 11.85 billion liters of hydrous ethanol and 4.96 billion liters of anhydrous ethanol. Of the total manufactured, 807.58 million liters was from corn.
Mills in the south-central region sold 1.2 billion liters of ethanol during the first half of August, down 18.08 percent when compared to the same period of last year. Of that total, 1.14 billion liters were sold domestically and 66.65 million liters were destined for export.
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Domestically, sales of hydrous ethanol were at 757.69 million liters during the first half of August, down 21.59 percent when compared to the same period of last year. Domestic sales of anhydrous ethanol were at 379.76 million liters, down from 396.21 million liters during the same period of 2019.
Since the beginning of the current harvest season, mills in the south-central region have sold 10.26 billion liters of ethanol, down 18.98 percent. Sales included 9.39 billion liters sold domestically and 865.37 million liters destined for export.
Sales of non-fuel alcohol were at 49.71 million liters for the first half of August, up 10.19 percent when compared to the same period of 2019, but the lowest volume reported since the beginning of the current harvest season. Since the beginning of the current harvest season, sales of non-fuel alcohol have reached 529.92 million liters, up 50.83 percent when compared to the same period of last year.
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