South-Central region expands sugarcane milling and ethanol production.

In the second half of April, sugarcane production units in the Center-South region processed 40,06 million tons, compared to 17,96 million tons in the 2025/2026 harvest. In the accumulated total for the 2026/2027 harvest up to May 1st, milling reached 60,46 million tons. This information was released by the Sugarcane and Bioenergy Industry Union (Unica) this week. 

In the second half of April, 38 sugarcane production units restarted operations, bringing the total to 238 production units operating in the Center-South region. Of this total, 219 are sugarcane processing units, ten are companies that manufacture ethanol from corn, and nine are flex-fuel plants. During the same period in the 25/26 harvest, 226 production units were operating, including 209 sugarcane processing units, ten companies producing ethanol from corn, and seven flex-fuel plants.

Regarding the quality of the raw material, the level of Total Recoverable Sugars (TRS) recorded in the second half of April reached 116,89 kg of TRS per ton of sugarcane, compared to 109,92 kg per ton in the 2025/2026 harvest – a positive variation of 6,34%. In the accumulated harvest, the indicator marks 112,58 kg of TRS per ton, an index 5,40% higher than the last cycle in the same position.

Sugar and ethanol production

Sugar production in the first fifteen days of April totaled 1,80 million tons. In the accumulated period from the beginning of the harvest until May 1st, the production of the sweetener totaled 2,47 million tons.

In the last two weeks, 59,66% of the processed sugarcane was directed to ethanol production, compared to 54,31% recorded in the same period of the previous harvest. This indicates the priority given to biofuel by the producing units, with the accumulated mix for the harvest reaching 61,84% in this cycle against 54,77% in the 2025/2026 harvest.

As a result, ethanol production by plants in the Center-South region in the second half of April reached 2,04 billion liters, comprising 1,41 billion liters of hydrated ethanol and 628,64 million liters of anhydrous ethanol. In the current agricultural cycle, total biofuel production reached 3,29 billion liters (+71,84%), with 2,30 billion liters of hydrated ethanol (+59,47%) and 982,88 million liters of anhydrous ethanol (+110,07%).

Of the total ethanol obtained in the second half of April, 19,25% was produced from corn, registering a production of 392,48 million liters this year, compared to 358,87 million liters in the same period of the 2025/2026 cycle – an increase of 9,37%. In the accumulated total since the beginning of the harvest, corn ethanol production reached 804,42 million liters – an increase of 12,21% compared to the same period last year.

Ethanol marketing

In April, the total volume of ethanol sold by mills in the Center-South region totaled 2,74 billion liters, with 985,68 million liters of anhydrous ethanol and 1,76 billion liters of hydrated ethanol sold.

Specifically in the domestic market, the volume traded per working day in April registered a growth of 15,26% compared to the value recorded in March, totaling 1,75 billion liters. In the bi-weekly assessment, the sale of biofuel per working day reached 91,2 million liters in the second half of April, registering a growth of 26,1% compared to the sales observed at the beginning of March, when the production units delivered 72,3 million liters per day.

The upward trend in output from production units was also observed in fuel consumption data published by the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP). In April, according to the ANP, 1,83 billion liters of hydrated ethanol were sold in Brazil, and the renewable fuel's share of total consumption by the light vehicle fleet reached 24,6%, compared to 23,2% in March. In the state of São Paulo, data collected for April indicate that the share of hydrated ethanol reached 44,0%, the highest level since February 2025.

According to Luciano Rodrigues, Director of Sectoral Intelligence, Regulation and Competitiveness at Unica, “this movement is natural given the high competitiveness of biofuel at the pumps. The relative difference between the prices of hydrated ethanol and gasoline at gas stations is 64,5% on average in the country, reaching 61,7% in the state of São Paulo. This condition offers an effective option for savings and decarbonization to the Brazilian consumer.”

Indeed, last week (May 17th to 23rd), ANP surveyed fuel pump prices in 387 municipalities, registering ethanol prices below technical parity with gasoline in 232 of these cities. "ANP data indicate that all sampled municipalities in the states of São Paulo, Paraná, Goiás, Mato Grosso, and Mato Grosso do Sul registered economically advantageous ethanol prices compared to gasoline, reinforcing the expectation of greater consumption of the biofuel," added Rodrigues.

CBios market

Data from B3 up to May 25th indicate the issuance of 16,93 million credits in 2026 by biofuel producers. The amount of CBios available for trading held by the obligated party, non-obligated party and issuers totals 26,79 million decarbonization credits.

Adding together the CBios available for trading and the credits already retired to meet the 2026 target, the productive sector has already made available approximately 66% of the titles needed to fully meet the quantity required by the Program by the end of this year.