The 2024/2025 harvest in the Center-South was completed with the milling of 621,88 million tons of sugarcane processed by the production units, registering a drop of 4,98% compared to 654,45 million tons registered in the previous cycle.
According to Luciano Rodrigues, director of Sector Intelligence at Unica, “despite the reduction in milling compared to the previous harvest, which was already expected, the 2024/2025 harvest recorded the second largest milling in the history of the Center-South, in addition to registering a new record in ethanol production”.
In the field, the recently concluded harvest was marked by a drop in agricultural productivity in sugarcane fields in the Center-South region, after the record productivity in the 2023/2024 cycle. The crops recorded a yield of 77,8 tons of sugarcane per hectare harvested in the accumulated period from April 2024 to March 2025, with a drop of 10,7% compared to the indicator recorded in the previous harvest, according to the survey by the Sugarcane Technology Center (CTC).
The state of São Paulo, responsible for approximately 57,5% of sugarcane milling in the Center-South, saw a 14,3% drop (77,6 tons per hectare in this harvest versus 90,6 tons per hectare in the previous cycle). In the other producing states, the drop ranged from 2,7% in Goiás to 12,7% in Mato Grosso do Sul.
The quality of the raw material harvested in the 2024/2025 harvest, measured in kg of ATR per ton of processed sugarcane, registered 141,07 kg of ATR per ton, an index 1,33% higher than the value indicated last year.
“This agricultural cycle was marked by a series of agronomic, operational and climatic challenges. Water stress throughout the months of crop development affected agricultural productivity and the purity of the processed sugarcane juice, impacting the yield in sugar production,” explains Luciano Rodrigues. “In the second half of 2024, we also had the occurrence of arson and accidental fires in several producing regions, especially in the State of São Paulo, which required efforts from production units to minimize the damage caused,” adds the executive.
In the accumulated total for the 2024/2025 harvest, sugar production totaled 40,17 million tons, a reduction of 5,31% compared to the historical record registered in the previous cycle (42,42 million tons).
Luciano Rodrigues highlights that only 48,05% of sugarcane was used to manufacture the sweetener, with most of the crushed sugarcane being used to produce ethanol. “Sugar production fell due to the smaller amount of processed sugarcane and also to the slight increase of 1,59 percentage points in the proportion of raw material used to produce ethanol.”
Since the beginning of the 2024/2025 harvest, ethanol production has set a new historical record: the production of biofuel totaled 34,96 billion liters, an increase of 4,06% compared to the volume of the previous harvest (previous record). Highlight for the production of corn ethanol, which reached 8,19 billion liters — an increase of 30,70% compared to the same period last year — representing 23,43% of the renewable production in the Center-South.
In this harvest, 22,59 billion liters of hydrated ethanol were produced, an increase of 10,27% (the second highest value in the historical series), and 12,37 billion liters of anhydrous, a decrease of 5,63%.
In the second half of March, production units in the Center-South region processed 4,56 million tons compared to 5,10 million in the 2023/2024 harvest – which represents a drop of 10,63%.
Of the total raw material, 43,01% was directed to sugar production, totaling 201,15 thousand tons, an increase of 9,97% compared to the amount recorded in the same period in the 2023/2024 harvest, and the largest portion of the milling (56,99%) was destined to the production of biofuel, generating 168,87 million liters for ethanol. In addition to the sugarcane portion, 377,91 million liters were manufactured from corn (+24,87%), totaling 546,77 million liters. Of the total volume of ethanol produced, 509,82 million liters were hydrated ethanol (+18,74%) and 36,95 million liters were anhydrous ethanol (-62,63%).
In the second half of March, 23 units began the 2025/2026 harvest. At the end of this period, 61 production units were in operation in the Center-South region, of which 46 units processed sugarcane, ten companies produced ethanol from corn and five flex plants. In the same period, in the 2023/2024 harvest, 75 production units operated.
In March, ethanol sales totaled 2,90 billion liters, which represents a negative variation of 4,57% compared to the same period of the 2023/2024 harvest, with 153,08 million liters destined for export and 2,75 billion liters for the domestic market.
In the domestic market, the volume of hydrated ethanol sold by units in the Center-South totaled 1,71 billion liters in March, which represents a decrease of 7,80% compared to the same period in 2024. In the total harvest, however, 21,73 billion liters of biofuel were sold in the domestic market, which represents a significant increase of 16,44% compared to the same period in the previous agricultural cycle.
UNICA's Director of Sector Intelligence adds that sales of hydrated ethanol in the domestic market continue at a strong pace. "In the last 12 months, hydrated ethanol consumption in the Brazilian market grew 22,87% compared to the previous period, while total fuel consumption by the light fleet increased only 2,89%. The result indicates an increase in the share of hydrated ethanol in total consumption, reflecting the greater supply of biofuel and its competitiveness at the pump."
“In the 2024/2025 cycle, in addition to the savings of R$6 billion generated for owners of flex fuel vehicles, ethanol consumption prevented the emission of 48,4 million tons of CO2eq. For comparison purposes, this emission avoided in a single cycle is equivalent to the annual emissions of Ecuador,” added Rodrigues.
Domestic anhydrous ethanol sales, in turn, reached 1,04 billion liters, an increase of 10,45% in March. In the accumulated total for the 2024/2025 harvest, anhydrous ethanol totaled 12,18 billion liters sold in the domestic market (4,35%).
Regarding the volume of ethanol exported, the 2024/2025 cycle totaled 1,67 billion liters, a drop of 32,80% compared to the previous cycle, with 1,13 billion liters (-19,98%) of hydrated ethanol and 531,48 million (-49,93%) of anhydrous ethanol.
With this, the sales balance for the 2024/2025 harvest in the Center-South region of Brazil ends with 35,58 billion liters of ethanol sold by production units, a historic sales record and growth of 8,42% compared to the previous cycle.
Data from B3 up to April 08th indicate the issuance of 11,76 million credits in 2025 by biofuel producers. The amount of CBios available for trading held by the obligated party, non-obligated party and issuers totals 22,36 million decarbonization credits.
“Adding up the CBios available for commercialization and the credits already retired to meet the 2025 target, even before the official start of the 2025/2026 harvest, the bioenergy sector has already made available on the market almost 60% of the titles needed to fully meet the quantity required by the Program for the end of this year”, says Rodrigues.
Currently, 288 ethanol production units, 4 biomethane units and 38 biodiesel units are certified by RenovaBio. The combined volume sold by these 332 companies represents more than 90% of biofuel production in Brazil and demonstrates the sector's uninterrupted commitment to the decarbonization goals assumed by Brazil.
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