Brazil's Sugarcane-Based Ethanol and Sugar Industry Grows in 2009

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Brazil's sugar-ethanol industry has seen growth in 2009 when compared to 2008, according to a survey performed by the Companhia Nacional de Abastecimiento (Conab) (Brasilia). Federal supply company's technicians visited 389 of the country's 423 sugarcane processing plants in August. The report shows an increase in the number of hectares planted with cane, in the productivity of the land, in the crushing capacity, and in the production of ethanol and sugar. Apart from this expansion, another trend was registered in relation to the use of sugarcane juice.

Estimates are that 629 million tons of sugarcane will be crushed in 2009, which represents a 10% increase over 2008. The difference is associated to plant startups, to some cane that was not harvested last year, and to an increase in the number of planted hectares. Ethanol production is expected to increase 4.79%, with 7.3 billion gallons produced; of that, 2.4 billion gallons of anhydrous alcohol will be mixed with fuel, and 4.9 billion gallons will be of the hydrated kind, which is sold directly at pumps in gas stations and used by flex-fuel cars. Sugar's production has risen dramatically this year; estimates are that the outcome will be 36.7 million tons, representing a 16.14% increase in relation to 2008.

Producers are turning as much sugarcane juice into sugar as they can, which is possible since most of the sugarcane processing plants in the country produce both products. Generally, the "production mix," as they refer to the proportion of sugar and ethanol they produce, is about 60% ethanol and 40% sugar; however, this can be adjusted to suit market conditions. According to the survey, the mix is being changed this year, with an estimate of about 45% of sugarcane being used to produce sugar. The shift is due to higher prices of this commodity in the international market, mostly caused by droughts which result in poor yields of the industry in India, which is one of the greatest world producers and consumers of sugar.

The trends reported in the Conab's survey mostly represent the situation in the central and southern states of Brazil, where about 90% of the industry is settled. Sao Paulo alone holds nearly 58% of the Brazilian sugarcane-based industry.

The third product of the sugarcane industry is electric energy generated from bagasse burning. The survey has reported an installed capacity of almost 3,500 megawatts (MW). It has been estimated that if all the sugarcane factories in the country installed modern equipments to generate electricity, about 15,000 MW could be cogenerated. For more details, view related June 19, 2009, article - Global Sugarcane Industry to Reach 26,000 Megawatts of Cogeneration Capacity by 2015.

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