In Brazil, while debt is hurting sugarcane production and ethanol from sugarcane, corn ethanol is picking up the pace. For the first time ever in a season, corn-based ethanol is expected to exceed the 1 billion liter mark, according to Bloomberg News.
While still just a tiny fraction of Brazil’s 31 billion liter biofuel market, output is expected to expand quickly over the next few years with investments going into more than a dozen new plants being planned. Renovabio, the latest legislation, which includes federal mandates for higher biofuel levels is helping push the demand for biofuel and expansion into more corn ethanol. According to Bloomberg News and government projections, the legislation is expected to boost domestic demand by 20 billion liters through the end of the next decade.