According to a report at Reuters, Brazilian sugar mills are closely watching the 2019 U.S. corn crop for reduced harvests that could boost prices for the cereal, raising ethanol production costs there and opening room for Brazilian ethanol to gain domestic market share.
In that scenario, ethanol demand in Brazil would likely rise further, experts say, leading mills to maintain current production mix that heavily favors ethanol at the expense of sugar.
The Reuters reports says corn prices have jumped more than 25% in Chicago since May because of rains that delayed corn planting and threatened production. Ethanol prices have risen more than 20%.
