Brasília – Ethanol production in Brazil in 2018/2019 crop is expected to reach 33.58 billion liters, a 23.3% increase, up by 6.3 billion litters over 2017/2018 crop. Data was released this Tuesday (23) by the Brazilian National Company of Supply (CONAB, acronym in Portuguese) and points to a new record-high, surpassing the last index of 30.5 billion liters in 2015/2016 crop.
This ethanol production increase results mainly from the sugar price drop in the international market and a more favorable scenario for the ethanol fuel in the domestic market, thanks to the dollar and oil hike, according to CONAB. These factors caused more production units to increase allocation of sugar cane for ethanol production.
The cane crop reached 625.2 million tons, showing a 1.3% decreased over the last one, which was 633.26 million tons. The sugar production reached 31.35 million tons, a 17.2% decrease, down by 6.5 million tons, compared to the last crop. The harvested area stood at 8.59 million hectares, representing a 1.6% reduction compared to 2017/2018.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
