Dec 02, 2024
Corn Usage for Ethanol in Brazil Could Hit 30 mt in 2024/25
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The amount of corn utilized to make ethanol in Brazil continues to increase at a rapid pace. During the opening panel of the fifth edition of the Technical Corn Meeting held in the city of Cuiaba, Mato Grosso on November 28 and 29, the financial director of the Mato Grosso Research Support and Research Foundation (Fundacao MT) estimated that 30 million tons of Brazilian corn would be used to produce ethanol in 2025. This would equate to approximately 25% of Brazil's total corn production.
The high corn productivity in Mato Grosso has allowed the state to become the center of corn ethanol production in Brazil. According to the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea), the state produced a record 43.8 million tons of corn in 2023/24, which represented 38% of Brazil's total corn production.
Biofuel companies in Mato Grosso continue to invest heavily in the sector. The company ALD Bioenergia Deciolandia announced an investment of R$ 1 billion to triple its ethanol production in the state by 2026. The Commercial Director of FS also announced continued investment in expanding its corn ethanol operations in the state.
Imea is estimating that ethanol production in Mato Grosso will increase 10% in 2024/25 with corn accounting for the majority of this volume. Corn ethanol is expected to account for approximately 22% of Brazil's ethanol production in 2025.