Increasing Brazilian ethanol demand could wipe out sugar surplus

In Brazil, ethanol sales are about on par with sugar sales, forcing a conundrum among mills that would typically focus on sugar production during this part of the crush. Atypical wet weather has slowed down crushing as well, which could lead to more ethanol production as usually happens earlier in the season. Reuters reports Datagro as saying that an additional 300 million liters of hydrous ethanol consumption per month could remove 5.75 million metric tons of sugar production and eat away at the global sugar surplus by 2014/15.