Mar 09, 2023
Corn Ethanol Production in Brazil to Increase 36.7% in 2023/24
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Brazil is expected to produce 6 billion liters of corn ethanol during the 2023/24 season (April to March), which is up 36.7% compared to 2022/23 according to the National Corn Ethanol Union (Unem). Corn ethanol will represent 19% of the ethanol consumed in Brazil in 2023/24.
Corn ethanol was first produced in Brazil in 2017/18 with 520 million liters of production. Since then, production will have increased 1,053% by the end of the 2023/24 season. The increase has been the result of the inauguration of new facilities, expansion of existing facilities, and the incorporation of new technologies in existing facilities.
In 2023/24, there will be 20 facilities authorized to produce corn ethanol in the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goias, Parana, and Sao Paul, which is two more than in 2022/23.
In 2022, the Paraguayan company Impasse started production at their facility at Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul and doubled the capacity within one year.
During the first half of 2023, two facilities are expected to increase their production. Impasse will double the capacity of their facility in Nova Mutum, Mato Grosso and ALD BIO will increase production at their Nova Marilandia, Mato Grosso facility.
Two new corn ethanol facilities will begin production in 2023. FS Bioenergia will start operations at their third facility in Primavera do Leste, Mato Grosso in mid-2023. The company Neomille, will also start production at their new facility in Maracaju, Mato Grosso do Sul in mid-2023.
The corn ethanol sector in Brazil feels they are different than ethanol producers in the United States because Brazilian tropical agriculture is better suited to produce food, energy, and fiber through a system of crop rotations that allows for two or three crops to be produced per year in the same field allowing for better utilization of the soil.