Ethanol plants demand more transparency in fuel price policy | Policy

The president of the National Sugar Energy Forum (FNS) and the Association of Sugar Energy Industries of Minas Gerais (Siamig), Mario Campos Filho, took advantage of the presence of the ministers of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, and of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, at the opening of the harvest Minas Gerais 2024/25 of sugar cane to demand more transparency in the country’s fossil fuel pricing policy.

“We wanted to produce even more ethanol, but unfortunately we do not know today what criteria the pricing policy adopts for fossil fuels in Brazil today, and the sector is very apprehensive about this item”, stated Campos.

Despite having shown a 15.1% growth in the sugarcane harvest in 2023/24, with 81.4 million tons, the State of Minas Gerais allocated 63.52% of all crushed cane to production of sugar given the product’s greater profitability compared to ethanol.

For 2024/25, according to Conab, Minas Gerais plants will continue to prioritize sugar over biofuel, with an estimated production of 6 million tons of sugar, growth of 10.7% compared to the previous cycle. As for ethanol, the outlook is for production to fall by the same proportion, 10.7%, to 2.9 billion liters.

The CEO of the sugar and alcohol company CMAA, Carlos Turchetto, also called for changes in the country’s fossil fuel pricing policy. According to him, the company, which is one of the largest in the state, is gradually becoming “a sugar company”.

“The sector is becoming more sugar-producing because it pays better, but it pays better because the price of fuel is artificially frozen, and the loser is society, which has to import fuel from all over the world”, highlighted the executive. The company’s forecast is for a 2.9% drop in its ethanol production in 2024/25, to 340 million liters.