UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane ethanol industry association, has announced that mills in the country’s south-central region produced 31.95 billion liters (8.44 billion gallons) of ethanol from April 1 through Dec. 15, 2019, including 981.9 million liters of corn ethanol.

According to UNICA, production units in Brazil’s south central region crushed 2.45 million tons of sugarcane during the first half of December. Since the beginning of the current harvest, which began April 1, approximately 577.37 million tons of sugarcane has been processed.

The 31.95 billion liters of ethanol production reported from April 1 through Dec. 15 included 9.8 billion liters of anhydrous ethanol and 22.16 billion gallons of hydrous ethanol.

During the first half of December, Brazil produced 26.6 million liters of anhydrous corn ethanol from corn and 44.98 million liters of hydrous ethanol from corn. From April 1 through Dec. 15, production reached 653.09 million liters of hydrous ethanol from corn and 298.81 million liters of anhydrous ethanol from corn.  

UNICA said preliminary figures show that ethanol sales by units in the south-central region reached 1.24 billion liters during the first half of December, including 1.22 billion liters sold domestically and 21.84 million liters destined for export.

According to UNICA, 306.05 million liters of anhydrous ethanol was sold domestically during the first half of December. Sales of hydrous ethanol for the period were at 909.74 million liters, down 2.45 percent from the same period of last year.