Brazil’s ethanol production plummets in early May

The latest figures from Brazil’s national sugarcane association, Unica, shows that ethanol production in Brazil’s central-south region plunged to 773 million liters in the first half of May, 40% lower compared to the same period last year. Since the harvest period began at the start of April, production of ethanol declined by 39% to 1.32 billion liters. Unica said the plunge was caused by the delay of the mills to begin harvesting due to poor weather conditions. Antonio de Padua Rodrigues, Unica’s interim president, said that weather forecasts may cause low harvest yields. “If the meteorological forecasts are correct we will have a wetter than normal winter which means a greater number of unworkable days and a lower harvest intake,” Rodrigues said. On May 15, only 235 mills were in operation, compared to 273 during the same period last year. During the 2012 harvest period total ethanol sales rose by 11.6% year-on-year to 2.14 billion liters, including an 8.09% increase in domestic sales, which reached 2.02 billion liters. However, despite the improved overall sales figures, in the first half of May receipts from anhydrous ethanol on the domestic market fell from 330 million to 255 million liters. Unica said the decline reflected ethanol’s diminishing presence in Brazil’s fuel admixture. Mills dedicated 54.9% of total sugarcane processing to ethanol while the rest were designated to the production of sugar. (May 24, 2012)