Apr 14, 2022
Corn Accounted for 12.5% of Brazil's Ethanol Production in 2021/22
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The 2021/22 sugarcane harvest in Brazil is complete and the amount of ethanol produced from corn continues to increase at a steady pace. Brazil's ethanol production in 2021/22 totaled 27.55 billion liters which was down 9.3% compared to the prior year. Ethanol produced from corn in 2021/22 totaled 3.47 billion liters which was up 34.3% compared to last year. Corn based ethanol accounted for 12.5% of Brazil ethanol production in 2021/22. Ethanol produced from sugarcane declined 13.3% in 2021/22.
Mato Grosso is the leading state for corn-based ethanol production in Brazil with 3.0 billion liters produced in 2021/22. This compares to 2.19 billion liters produced in 2020/21. For the 2022/23 season, it is estimated that Mato Grosso will produce 3.59 billion liters from corn. In 2022/23, it is estimated that 8.35 million tons of corn produced in Mato Grosso will go toward ethanol production, or approximately 20% of the state's anticipated corn production.
The 2021/22 Brazilian sugarcane harvest season ended with 523.1 million tons of sugarcane being processed, which was down 13.5% compared to the previous year. The state of Sao Paulo registered the largest reduction at 16.5%. The sugarcane area harvested in Sao Paulo declined by 1.3% and the sugarcane yield in the state declined by 15.1%. The lower sugarcane yields were the result of a prolonged drought in 2021, a series of frosts, and uncontrolled fires during September of 2021.
During the 2021/22 season, Brazil produced 32.6 million tons of sugar, which was down 16.6%.
The new sugarcane harvest season is starting and during the second half of March, there were 16 facilities processing sugarcane and 9 facilities processing corn for ethanol production. At the same time last year, there were 37 facilities processing sugarcane and 10 facilities processing corn.