Brazil's ethanol exports are expect to go down by 21.95 during the 2007-2008 fiscal year which ends in March, according to the Brazilian Association of Sugarcane Industries (Unica). From April 2006 to March 2007, Brazil exported 4,1 billion liters of ethanol. Current figures are down to about 3,2 million. Global production figures, according to our source, are increasing: 21,6 billion liters.

Unica states that the main reason for this decrease is the market's volatility. Unica also expressed its concern about the U.S.'s and the EU's plans to tax ethanol imports. According to them, Brazilian ethanol is cleaner and cheaper than corn or beetroot's ethanol.

Despite these negative figures, the Brazilian ethanol industry is at its peak for its internal demand. 4.4 out of 20 million vehicles in Brazil are flex-fuel. Brazil's sugarcane production is mostly targeted for ethanol production - about 55.28 percent of it.

[Source: Econoticias]

Brazil's Companhia Nacional do Abastecimento is forecasting record levels for the 2007-2008 sugarcane production fuelled (pun intended) by the expansion of ethanol. According to this official organisation, this year's production of sugarcane will reach 547.2 million tons, 15.2 percent more than last year's 474.8 million.

The uses for this huge amounts of sugarcane are divided this way: 40.5 percent for sugar manufacturing (30 million tons of sugar) and a whopping 46 percent to produce 21.3 billion liters of ethanol, 22 percent more than last year's production. The rest of the sugarcane is used for producing specific sugars, panela and liquor (cachaça for caipirinhas, among others).

Because of the increased demand for ethanol, Brazil producers have increased by 12.3 percent the acres dedicated to sugarcane. Plans are to double this production in five-years time.

The ethanol industry is booming for Brazil, and the country has signed agreements with many countries to expand its use. For instance, Brazil exported 3.9 billion liters of ethanol in 2006, compared to 2.6 billion in 2005 - That's 70 percent of the international trading market for this fuel. Of the 2006 exports, 1.7 billion liters reached the US, 346 million went to the Nederlands, 225 to Japan and 204 to Sweden.

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• Brazil wants to become the Saudi Arabia of ethanol

[Source: Agroinformacion.com]

"Brazil has all the necessary conditions to become the Saudi Arabia of ethanol", affirms Petrobas board member, Paulo Roberto Costa. He also adds "Brazil is surely to become the preferred biofuel provider of the world". After such enthusiastic (!) affirmations from Mr. Costa, let's have a look at the facts and previsions for the following years.

Ethanol production for 2006 was 3.5 billion liters and the previsions for 2012 are 9 billion. But this ethanol is not only for Brazilian cars: 5.5 billion gallons are to be exported. Petrobras will get the biggest part of the market, with 3.5 billion sold mostly to Japan. Petrobras, the biggest Latin American oil company, is planning to invest 1.2 billion dollars in biofuel production (both for biodiesel and ethanol).

The strategy for Petrobras is selling the Japanese the ethanol they need for Japan's upcoming 3 percent ethanol blend in gasoline while also selling sugarcane ethanol to Venezuela, Nigeria and the US. Mr. Costa also affirmed that they're negotiating with South Korea and China for a similar agreement.

Related:

• Brazil ethanol exports rising
• Does Brazil have an ethanol "bubble"? And will it burst?
• Bush, da Silva talk ethanol again; charity warns ethanol is a disaster

[Source: O Globo via Econoticias]