Brazilian president refuses to raise gasoline taxes to help ethanol industry

In Brazil, Reuters reports that despite expectations that the government would raise gasoline taxes in an effort to help support the ethanol industry, the President said late last week that he wouldn’t be raising taxes of any kind in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ethanol demand fell along with gasoline demand more than 50% as people stayed off the roads to help slow the spread of the virus. But with falling oil prices making ethanol less competitive, the sugar industry hoped that an increase in gasoline taxes would help to tilt the balance in its favor and help support mills that are suffering. Mills rely on ethanol sales for cash flow during the sugarcane crush to pay for salaries and daily operating expenses.