l
THE RISE OF BIOFUEL
In themeantime, Conab observes that, despite soaring sugar exports
in2017,theproductionunitshaveexpandedthedestinationofsugarcane
fortheproductionofethanoltowardstheendoftheseason,asofSeptem-
ber, equally taking advantage of Total Recoverable Sugar (TRS) because
of the drier winter. During this period, with gasoline prices going up, con-
sumption of hydrated ethanol soared, which had been on the decline up
tothattime.Inthecropasawhole,fromApriltoOctober,accordingtodata
from the same source, the derivative dropped by 5.2 percent, and anhy-
drous ethanol (mixed with gasoline) increased 0.9 percent, generating a
total dropof 2.7percent. According toUnica sources, in theCenter-South,
until December, anhydrous ethanol soared 1.27 percent, while hydrated
ethanol was supposed to have dropped only 0.57 percent, allowing for a
positiveincreaseof0.21percent.
Biofuel, now the leading destination for our national sugarcane, is in
a position to expand its scope. An incentive program, called RenovaBio,
passedby the Federal Senate in late 2017, andwhich tries to complywith
the commitments of the Country with the Paris agreement in the reduc-
tion of polluting gas emissions up to 2030, could revive the sector, with
chances to double its production, according to Unica sources. The Brazil-
ian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA) also has it that the
limitation of the existing investments could be reversed with a strong re-
sumption of the economy and possible implementation of the Renova-
Bio, increasing the ethanol mix in the sector and, with the smaller supply
ofsugarcane,speedinguptherecoveryofthesemarkets.
uct in the international marketplace add-
ed to its representativeness in the two past
crop years”, according to Conab sources,
mentioning that there has been an increase
in thedestinationof the rawmaterial for this
purpose (from 40.4 percent to 45.9% and
47.1% in the sequence). In his evaluation,
production would go up 2 percent in this
season at national level, while Unica con-
firmed an increase by 1.1 percent until De-
cember 2017 in the Center-South region.
Still with regard to sugar prices, Conabof-
ficials ascertained that “in the current year,
theywereonadownwardtrend,aftersucces-
sive increases in 2016. Year 2017wasmarked
by excessive supply, drop in international
prices, expectation for a bigger than expect-
ed crop and favorable atmosphere for inter-
nal milling processes”. However, as of Sep-
tember, according to the same source, there
was a reversal in the trend, and prices began
to soar again, with tighter supply. Brazilian
exports, in turn, during the season, fromApril
toSeptember, wereup7.2percent fromApril
to October, when they amounted to 15.51
million tons andUS$5.95billion.
