Sales of hydrous ethanol fuel, in the domestic market in April, reached just 1.10 billion liters, with a significant reduction of 38.37% in relation to that sold in the same period of 2019, when the production units sold 1.78 billion liters. liters. Domestic sales of anhydrous ethanol also decreased by 18.97%, reaching 480.19 million liters in April 2020 against 592.62 million liters in the same period of the previous year. The monthly volume traded in April by the plants in the Center-South reached 1.78 billion liters (with 76.77 million liters exported). This level of sales represents a decrease of 29% compared to the same period of the previous year (2.55 billion liters). “Despite the recent increase in the competitiveness of biofuel compared to its fossil competitor in the main consumer centers, the demand for ethanol continues with an uncertain future due to the impacts of the pandemic with social isolation and fluctuations in the price of gasoline,” said Antonio de Padua Rodrigues, technical director of the Sugarcane Industry Union (UNICA). According to Rodrigues, the change in the production mix is due to the loss of attractiveness of ethanol and reflects the expectation of a 2020/2021 more sugar harvest. Ethanol production totaled 1.57 billion liters in the fortnight, against 1.50 billion liters produced in the same period of the 2019/2020 cycle. Of the total produced this year, hydrate reached 1.14 billion liters and the volume of anhydrous produced grew 36.95%, reaching 438.50 million liters.
Source: Jornal Cana