Jan 02, 2019
More of the Corn Production in Mato Grosso being used for Ethanol
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
In a recent study released by Conab, they indicated that approximately 25% of the ethanol produced in the state of Mato Grosso was from corn and that corn-based ethanol production in Mato Grosso is on a steep upward increase.
The reason for the significant increase in corn-based ethanol production is obvious, there is an overabundance of corn in the state and producing ethanol from corn is cheaper than using sugarcane. The ethanol is being produced not only in facilities that utilizes only corn, but also in facilities that utilize corn when sugarcane is not available during the summer rainy season. More corn-based ethanol facilities continue to be built in the state.
Over the past five years, ethanol production in the state has increased 37% with the majority of the increase coming from corn-based ethanol production. The amount of ethanol produced from sugarcane in the state has actually stagnated in recent years.
Currently, approximately 2 million tons of corn in Mato Grosso will be used to produce ethanol in 2018/19 and that could increase quickly to 4 million tons as new corn-based ethanol facilities come online. In their December Crop Report, Conab estimated that Mato Grosso will produce 27.8 million tons of corn in 2018/19. In 2018/19, 7% of the corn in Mato Grosso could be used for ethanol production and that could increase to 14% in a short period of time as new facilities come online.