Indian minister says no need for higher ethanol prices thanks to cheaper molasses

In India, the Times of India newspaper reports that the food minister is opposed to sugar mills’ request to boost the sales price for ethanol above the current 60 cents per liter because the bumper sugarcane crop this season has significantly lowered the price of molasses for feedstock. When ethanol prices were established last year, molasses cost $880 per ton but that has fallen to just $220 per ton. Mills are demanding higher prices to help pay off debt to cane farmers.