In the second half of August, production units in the central and southern regions processed 45.07 million tons compared to 46.58 million tons in the 2023/2024 crop, a decrease of 3.25%. In the cumulative total since the beginning of the 2024/2025 harvest season until September 1, crushing amounted to 422.61 million tons, compared to 406.64 million tons recorded during the same period of the 2023/2024 cycle – an increase of 3.93%.
By the end of the second half of August, there were 258 units operating in the center and south, including 239 sugarcane processing units, nine corn ethanol companies and ten flex plants.
In terms of raw material quality, the total recoverable sugars (ATR) level recorded in the second half of August was 155.34 kg ATR per tonne of sugarcane, compared to 153.92 kg per tonne in the 2023/24 crop – a positive variance of 0.92%. In the cumulative crop, the index showed 137.27 kg ATR, a slight increase of 0.02% compared to the same period of the previous cycle.
Sugar and ethanol production
Sugar production during the second half of August reached 3.26 million tons, recording a decrease of 6.02% compared to the quantity recorded during the same period of the 2023/2024 season (3.47 million tons). In the cumulative period from the beginning of the harvest until September 1, sweetening production reached 27.17 million tons compared to 26.15 million tons in the previous cycle (+3.90%).
The director of the intelligence sector at UNICA, Luciano Rodriguez, explains that the proportion of sugarcane used to manufacture the sweetener also decreased in the second half of August, reaching 48.85% of the raw materials used in sugar production this year, compared to 50.75% recorded in 2019. The same two weeks of the previous harvest.
In this context, ethanol production by central and southern units in the second half of August amounted to 2.45 billion liters, of which 1.56 billion liters (+10.27%) were hydrous ethanol and 888.93 million liters (-0.14%) were anhydrous ethanol. In the cumulative amount since the beginning of the current agricultural cycle until September 1, the total biofuel production amounted to 20.46 billion liters (+7.14%), of which 13.0 billion were hydrous ethanol (+16.34%) and 7.46 billion were anhydrous (-5.84%). .
“Production data from the second half of August still do not effectively capture the impact of fires on crops in the central south, especially in São Paulo, where fires have been more intense since August 22,” Rodrigues adds.
A partial survey conducted by UNICA among companies responsible for about 75% of production in the state of São Paulo indicated that at least 231.83 thousand hectares of sugarcane were affected by fires in the São Paulo region in the second half of August. Of this total, 132.04 thousand hectares were in crops that had not yet been harvested, and the remaining area – 99.79 thousand hectares – in places where sugarcane or sugarcane crops had already been harvested.
“The losses associated with burning are varied. In areas where sugarcane has already been harvested, fires may require new cultural treatments, with the addition of fertilizers, foliar sprays and herbicides, in addition to the risk of failure to regrow and the consequent replanting of part of the crop. In areas where sugarcane is still scheduled to be harvested, the impact of fires may include loss of quality of raw materials, changes in the harvest schedule at mills, the impossibility of processing in places where timely harvesting is not possible, and “further degradation of the burned sugarcane,” explains Rodriguez. The executive concluded that this scenario would make sugar processing more difficult and would exacerbate the decline in agricultural production of the crop.
Of the total ethanol produced in the second half of August, 14% was produced from corn, recording a production of 348.63 million liters this year, compared to 236.53 million liters in the same period of the 2023/2024 cycle – an increase of 47.39%. Since the start of the harvest season until now, corn ethanol production has reached 3.13 billion liters, an increase of 26.92% compared to the same period last year.
ethanol sales
In August, total ethanol sales amounted to 3.06 billion liters, representing a positive variation of 3.76% compared to the same period of the 2023/2024 harvest season. Different trajectories were recorded between hydrated and anhydrous: the former recorded growth of 6.81% (1.93 billion liters); the latter a decrease of 1.03% in the volume sold (1.14 billion liters).
In the domestic market, the total volume of hydrous ethanol sold by units in the central and southern regions reached 1.79 billion liters in August this year, up 11.16% compared with the same period of the previous harvest. In contrast, the monthly sales of anhydrous ethanol reached 1.04 billion liters, down 3.33%.
“Sales of hydrous ethanol in the local market have continued at a strong pace for 12 months, putting the market at a higher level than seen in 2023,” Rodriguez explained.
Data from the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) indicate that in the week of 01/09 to 07/09, biofuels are still very economically beneficial to consumers in 70% of the light fuel market. The average parity in Brazil was 66.3%, well below the technical reference of 73%.
According to the UNICA Executive Director, “Of the 338 municipalities whose prices were calculated by the ANP in the past two weeks, 206 offered ethanol prices below technical parity with gasoline. In the states of São Paulo, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso do Sul, all municipalities sampled by the agency registered an economically favorable price for ethanol compared to gasoline, reinforcing expectations of continued biofuel consumption.
In the cumulative period from the beginning of harvest to September 1, the total sales of ethanol units in the center and south amounted to 14.69 billion liters, registering a growth of 16.88%, of which 671.24 million liters were destined for export (-31.99%). The cumulative volume of hydrous ethanol amounted to 9.50 billion liters (+33.97%), while the volume of anhydrous ethanol amounted to 5.19 billion liters (-5.21%).
C-bios Market
Data from B3 through September 9 indicate that 28.73 million credits will be issued by biofuel producers in 2024. The total amount of CBios available for trading with committed and non-committed parties and issuers is 28.61 million decarbonization credits.
“Adding the CBios available for sale and the credits already withdrawn to achieve the 2024 target, we already have about 83% of the titles needed to fully meet the amount required by the program by the end of this year,” explained UNICA Director Fred.
